When Cars & Humans Collide
by dcatpuppet
Summary: When Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell come to Radiator Springs for assistance from the residents, nobody expected to take a portal into the human world. Now since they're there, they need the help of some human teenagers to get used to their surroundings, and some of the teens need help from them!
1. Prologue

Cars 3: Cars and Humans Collide!

Prologue: "How much longer, Professor?" an orange gremlin asked a small Kleinwagon 250 car with a monocle. "Not long, withen a few moments, will shall have full contact with the human world and our new ally, the United States' worst murderer, The Black Lord," Professor Zundapp told Grem. "Who is this Black Lord guy anyway? I've never heard of him until now," a pale green Pacer named Acer said. "Like I said, he is a well-known murderer, mostly known for killing a famous racer named Luke McKay, along with several others," Zundapp explained. "He is the only one who can help us take over our world. Then, we shall destroy all the non-lemon cars of the world, including children!" "What about the imports you hired? Aren't you going to let them have their own nation, too?" Victor Hugo asked. "Those imports were foolish to think we could give them some of what we claimed. We'll kill them too before they have a chance to remind us about the deal," J. Curby Gremlin sneered. "Sounds excellent, but how do we kill them all before they know it?" the leader of the Lemons, Sir Miles Axlerod asked. "We'll trick them into my disintegration chamber a burn them all to ashes," Zundapp stated. "The purple one, Boost, is the most suspicious of us letting him and the other imports help us. How do you know he won't escape with his associates before we kill them?" Vladimir Trunkov warned. "Perhaps we should get rid of him first," Axlerod suggested. "Quiet! I think the Black Lord is contacting us!" Zundapp shouted. The hologram machine in the center of the room started to flicker to life and in a few seconds, the image of a tall human man standing appeared; he had a long trench coat that reached his knees, a wide brimmed hat, a bandana tied over his mouth, chin, and the tip of his nose, and dark sunglasses that covered his eyes. "My henchmen told me you had a message for me," the figure asked in a deep, gruff and dark voice. "Yes, we require your assistance," Sir Axlerod told the human. "I am Sir Axlerod of the Cars Dimension, the Kleinwagon near me is my scientist, Professor Zundapp, and these four cars are the leaders of my four armies: the purple gremlin is J. Curby Gremlin, the blue Trunkov is Vladimir Trunkov, the tan Pacer is Tubbs Pacer, and the yellow Hugo is Victor Hugo." "So I see, now, what did you call me for, other than a ridiculous introduction of a bunch of talking cars," The Black Lord snarled. "Like I had mentioned before, we require your assistance. We have a need to take over the world, but there are some obstacles in our way to do so," Miles explained. "And let me guess, you want me to kill them? I have a nice chop shop in my hideout to cram them all in," the Black Lord suggested. "Who are they?" "Oh, nobody too special, just my old enemies," Axlerod pushed a butten on the floor and a wall-mounted monitor flickered on showing images of several cars: a red race car decorated in lightning bolts, a rusty tow truck, a blue-gray Faultless GT, a purple MT-R Mark II, a baby blue Porsche Carrera, a black and white Mercury Police Cruiser, a big red fire truck, a light turquoise show car, a colorful Chevrolet Impala, a dark green WWII Army Jeep, a Volkswagon bus covered in flowers and the word 'PEACE' painted on the side, a small yellow Fiat 500, a small light blue Tutto Forklift and a black Ford Model T. "HA! That's what I'm up against! I could tear that Model T in half with my bear hands!" The Black Lord taunted, shaking his head in disbelief. "I know, some of them look like they couldn't do much to my plan, but be warned! Some of them are clever and have hidden weapons, such as the blue-gray car, the purple car, and the tow truck. In fact, the three I just mentioned spoiled my plans to get rich on oil again, and the race car survived Zundapp's death ray when he shouldn't have. The fire truck has a very powerful hose that can force a car away at least 20 feet, the forklift can perform the fastest pit stop in the world and can undo my henchmen's tires in no more than 2.5 seconds, sometimes they don't even notice! The show car has blinding headlights that can stun a car or human, in your case, for a few minutes, but by then, the police car would have already put a parking boot on you. The Impala can use an airbrush full of eye stinging paint, which he used on Tubbs. The Jeep has friends in the military, so he's a threat to us," Axlerod explained. "And the Porsche, bus, Fiat, and the Model T?" the Black Lord asked. "I haven't worked out how they're dangerous yet, but I know they will be considering they're the tow truck's friends," Axlerod admitted. "Right, so do they have names? I like to know my victim's names so I can freak them out by knowing them before they even introduce themselves." "The tow truck could cause the most trouble, so you need to know his name: Tow Mater," Miles told the gangster.

Chap. 1: The next morning, in Radiator Springs, the "threats" of Sir Axlerod's plan were all busy in Flo V8 Café, enjoying their morning oil, silently. "Sure is peaceful today," Lightning McQueen stated, breaking the silence. "Maybe, any minute now, those imports, the Tuner Gang, will show up and ruin everything," Sheriff said reminded the race car, even though nobody has seen Boost, Wingo, DJ, or Snot Rod for three days. A lot of the townsfolk began to believe that the troublemakers have left and moved onto another town, but Sheriff was unconvinced that they were gone. "It's odd though. I specifically remember Boost saying something about being back to cause trouble the last time we saw him on Sunday, but it's been three days and he and the Tuner Gang didn't show their hoods at all," Mater said. "Do you think something happened to them?" Flo said. "Maybe, I mean, there are a lot of dangers out here, like falling down a trench, getting stuck in silt, getting lost, running out of gas," Sally suggested. "Maybe we should look for them," Ramone said. "That will not be necessary, I don't want those import punks to think that we actually care about them," Sheriff said. Then, the sound of an approaching engine rang out as dust came up the road really fast up the road. "That's probably them right now," Sheriff said, already putting on his police siren. But it wasn't an import; it was a familiar Faultless GT car. "Finn! What are you doing here?" Mater greeted the secret agent. "Sorry for breaking the speed limit, but I have drastic news," Finn McMissile informed the tow truck. "What happened?" Sally had to know. "Is everything okay?" Flo asked. "I'm not sure yet, but it could become life-threatening to every car in the world. I'll explain on the way," Finn told the cars. "Great! I get to be a secret agent again!" Mater cheered. "You won't be the only one, Mater. We're going to need you friends' assistance as well," Finn added. "Us? Why? We're not agents like you," Lightning asked. "After your performance in London, I thought you'd be the right cars to help with the mission," Finn explained to the race car. "What about the town? We cant's just leave it empty like this," Sally said, worried Radiator Springs might disappear off the map again if everyone left. "Do you know anyone who could do the job while you're gone?" Finn asked. "Mia and Tia could work in the café while I'm gone," Flo said. "And a friend of ours, Mrs. Weathers, can manage the Cozy Cone Motel and the Wheelwell Motel," Sally added. "The other places we can close for a while." "Then it's settled, as soon as your friends come here, we can set out to where Siddley is; he's ready for take-off," Finn said. Mia and Tia didn't take long to show up, considering they were already living in the town, and Mrs. The King showed up in no more than an hour, along with her husband, Strip "The King" Weathers. After some brief good-byes, the cars set out to where Siddley was, who was hidden behind a mesa. "Everyone on board. We're going out of the states to the C.H.R.O.M.E Agency HQ in London," Finn stated. All the cars got onto the Glidesworth A113. Red went last, mainly because he was worried he would get stuck and hold everyone up, fortunately that didn't happen. Once the spy plane was in the air and on its way to London, the cars started to ask about what was going on. "Okay, you got us on a spy jet, now explain to us what is going on," Sheriff said. "Nothing good, I'm afraid. It seems our "friends," Professor Zundapp and Sir Miles Axlerod are up to their old tricks again. This time they're planning on taking over the world, but they are being assisted by a group of cars called imports," Finn explained. "Imports! We know what they are. They're cars that modified themselves to look cool and tough. There are four of them that cause trouble in Radiator Springs," Mater exclaimed. Finn got out a hologram machine and pushed a button to turn it on, revealing an image of a familiar Kyoku Jitsu car. "That's Boost, he's been missing from the town for three days, along with his friends, Wingo, DJ, and Snot Rod," Sheriff stated. "Well, now you know what has happened to him," Finn said, flipping to another image of a Reko-do Spinner. "That's DJ, he plays music so loud that I can't hear myself think," Sally stated. The next slide featured a Wingo. [Note: A Wingo is actually a type of car, which is what Wingo, the character in Cars is.] "Wingo, he has enough lights to light up a dark cave," Sarge stated. The last slide showed an orange Bragatron. "That's Snot Rod, whenever he sneezes, fire shoots out of his exhaust pipes, so don't be too close to him during allergy season," Ramone warned. "I don't get it, why would the Lemons get help from cars that work way better than they do?" Lightning asked, as Finn turned the hologram machine. "That's the point. Imports work better than they do, therefore they could use the imports as their strength, but I'm sure Axlerod might get rid of them once they are no longer needed, which the imports are completely oblivious of, but this 'Tuner Gang' won't be the only ones involved in the plan. Sir Axlerod has recruited every import he could find," Finn stated. "What exactly did Axlerod promise them?" Lightning asked. "50% of the land the Lemon's take over, a place for them all to cause mayhem without the police going after them," Finn answered. "Of course," Sheriff muttered. "Why do you need our help?" Mater asked. "I need a suitable group of cars to track down and take down the Black Lord," Finn stated. "The Black Lord! Dad gum!... Who's he?" Mater asked, completely clueless. "He's the United States most feared mafia leader," Finn explained. "Then why haven't we heard of him on the news?" Sarge asked. "Because he does not reside in our dimension, he lives in the human world," Finn stated. "The human world! But I though…" Lightning started to say. "That the human world was something that old cars made up to get young cars to go to sleep at night, no offense, Lizzie, that's what Miss. Shiftwell and I thought until we actually went there ourselves," Finn admitted. "The human world is real! I don't believe it! How will we blend in there?" Sally asked. "It'll be easier if I show you," Finn told her.

Chap.2: At the C.H.R.O.M.E Agency HQ, all the cars entered the building, where they met up with Holley Shiftwell. "Mater! It's so good to see you again!" the British car greeted the tow truck. "Holley! You never told me you went to the human world!" Mater exclaimed, driving up to his girlfriend. "Finn told you about that already? Yes, I thought if I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Holley said. "Shoot! Of course I'd believe you! I've done some crazy things myself in the past. Did I ever tell you I used to be a bullfighter?" Mater stated. "No, but I'd love to hear that story," Holley said. "Anyway, Finn said he'd be able to explain how we'd blend into the human world once we got here," Lightning said. "Yes, there is something that is activated once you get into the human world. It allows you to transform into a human as long as you're in the human world," Holley explained. "Cool…wait, it doesn't hurt does it?" Mater asked. "No, but it does feel weird," Holley said. "Can the humans do the same when they come to our world?" Lightning asked, interested in the human world. "Actually, they don't even know our world exists. Apparently, our dimension only exists in movies and TV. Like this for example," Holley used her holographic pop-up display to show the cars the image of a movie poster. "What in the…!" Mater exclaimed. It was a cover for the first Cars movie, which doesn't exist in their dimension, and were mortified that they were on it. "What's the plot?" Sally asked. "Hotshot rookie race car Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, is living life in the fast lane until he hits a detour on his way to the most important race of his life. Stranded in Radiator Springs, a forgotten town on the old Route 66, he meets Sally, voiced by Bonnie Hunt, Mater, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, Doc Hudson, voiced by Paul Newman, and a variety of quirky characters who help him discover that there's more to life than trophies and fame. It even includes a mini-film called Mater and the Ghostlight," Holley stated. "Get me a lawyer! These humans had-a no right to invade what happens in our lives!" Luigi snapped. "Are you sure they don't know about our world? The plot seems a little too thorough and similar to what happened when Lightning first got to Radiator Springs," Sally said. "I'm sure. They probably got inspired out of nowhere and wrote it on the spot, with a few deleted scenes that never got animated. And when you mentioned that you were a bullfighter earlier, Mater, it reminded me of this series of 'Cars Toons,' they called them. I have a copy of the cover right here." An image of another DVD cover popped up on the screen. Mater got a surprised look on his face when he saw what it was: It was a cover of Mater's Tall Tales with Mater in character for each of his tall tales on the cover. "Dad gum! Now they're going into my business!" he exclaimed. "According to the summery, the people who wrote these short films described you as lovable and hilarious. I think I agree with them," Holley admitted. "Well, at least they said something nice about me," Mater said proudly. "Which tales of mine do they mention in it?" "Let's see…Mater the Greater, El Materdor, Rescue Squad Mater, U.F.M: Unidentified Flying Mater, Heavy Metal Mater, Monster Truck Mater, Moon Mater, Mater Private Eye, and Tokyo Mater," Holley stated. "Whoa, they got every single one of my tales in that film, well almost all of them," Mater said. "The Pixar company is in the process of making a film called Time-Traveling Mater, which is about you traveling back in time and meeting the founder of Radiator Springs, Stanley," Holley informed. "Now they got all my tales," Mater sighed. "This is an outrage! How could they make these movies to make fun of us?" Sarge barked. "Like I said, the humans made these films out of inspiration from their minds. Even though one of the movies really shocked me and Finn, which is why we went to the human in the first place," Holley stated, as another movie poster popped up on-screen. "Cars 2?" Mater said. "Yes, unfortunately it didn't do as good as John Lasseter, the producer of the Cars movies had hoped," Finn said. "Well that's not good," Mater said. "Yes but, it seems Pixar is starting to lose interest in our world and move onto the world of planes," Holley stated. "What are they going to call that movie?" Lightning asked. "Planes," Holley answered. "(How original,)" Guido said. "Anyway, back to business. Like I said, I'd be able to explain how you'd be able to blend into the human world once we all get there, and, like Miss Shiftwell told you, you will automatically transform into a human once you are there, so, I threw together some human forms for you to use based on people in the human world who had deceased recently," Finn explained. "What if we run into someone who knows the person who died?" Sally asked. "They'll just assume that it was just coincidence, now who wants to see theirs first?" "I'll do it, Finn!" Mater volunteered. The tow truck drove up to the computer monitor as Holley opened up the program with his image as a human on it. It was a human with tan skin, brown hair, buck teeth like his own, a bandage on his nose, a blue shirt, a brown jacket, blue jeans, brown gloves, black boots, and what appeared to be a lasso with a tow hook on the end. "Cool, who do I look like in the human world?" Mater had to know. "A man by the name of Billy Morman, but you don't look too much like him, I changed some things so it would fit you better," "What does mine look like?" Lightning asked. Holley brought up his human image, which was a man with red hair, blue eyes, a white shirt, a red jacket with his lightning bolts, racing number, and sponsor, red pants, black sneakers, and red gloves. "Yours resembles a racer named Luke McKay, only Luke had blonde hair, and his racing number and sponsor were different," Holley told the race car. "Okay, Stickers, my turn," Sally said. Sally's human form had a blue blazer, long blue hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, a light blue tank top, blue capris, and black flats. "Yours looks like a Savannah Betts, who, unlike you, had blonde hair and wore black and white." Red went next. His human appeared to be tall, had red hair, a red long-sleeved shirt, blue pants, and red sneaker. "Richard Upton is who you look like, except Mr. Upton had brown hair and a blue shirt." Sheriff went next. His had graying black hair, a black cop uniform, and a gray mustache. "Arnold Jacobson, an exact copy." Luigi had his turn next. His form had slicked back black hair, a small mustache, a yellow suit, a red tie, and black shoes. "Mario Camilo, only he had a green suit. Other than that, you look like you could be his brother." Guido went after the Fiat. His avatar had silver hair, but his age looked about in his 30s. He also had a blue hat, pants, short sleeved button-up shirt, a white under shirt, gray shoes and gloves. "Thomas Gale, only he had brown hair, wore a darker shade of blue, and was hatless." Ramone rolled up and picked a human with black hair, tan skin, a purple shirt with flames on it, black pants, and brown shoes. "Rico Martinez, only he had different clothes." Flo went after her husband and got a woman with brown skin, black hair, wearing a light blue waitress uniform. "Yasmine Mohamet, only Mrs. Mohamet wasn't a waitress, she was a cop, and so was her husband, and her son will be one too." Sarge went next and got a human with short dark green hair, a stubble, had a dark green long-sleeved button-up shirt, dark green pants, and dark green combat boots. "John Stanson. He was a soldier who died in a war taking place called Afghanistan, so be careful not to show yourself to any military men. There's a chance someone might recognize you, even though John had brown hair," Holley warned. Fillmore went next. His had long light blue-green hair that reached his shoulders, a pink headband, a shirt with a pattern that was similar to his paint job, tan pants, green sandals, and a pink belt. "Ryan Buckminster, like you, he was a hippie. The only difference was that he had blonde hair, he had a long-sleeved tunic, a burlap vest, blue jeans, and flip-flops," Holley stated. Lizzie was the last to go. Her human appeared to be a woman about 70 and had white hair, a black dress, and glasses. "Violet Sun. The wife of the founder of a small town called Sun Springs. You might have a lot in common with her," Holley stated. "What do you mean by that, dear?" Lizzie asked, oblivious to the fact that she too, was married to the founder of a small town. "What about you and Finn?" Mater asked. "We already chose our human forms," Finn explained as Holley opened up two programs showing two images of humans. One had on a blue-gray suit and had dark gray, slicked back hair. The other was a woman with long, wavy purple hair pulled back into a ponytail wearing a dark purple shirt, a purple blazer and skirt, and violet heels. "Wow, you really think ahead," Lightning said. "Actually, these are the exact humans me and Miss. Shiftwell used the last time we were in the human world," Finn corrected the race car. "Alright, now since that's done, we must get to the portal machine," Holley said, closing all the programs and turning off the monitor. "The portal machine? What's that?" Mater asked.

Chap. 3: The cars drove into a room with a machine of some sort that was shaped like a hoop and was mounted to the wall. "Whoa!" Mater exclaimed when he saw it. "That thing's bigger than Red!" "It has to be big if a big car, such as a 4x4 ATV or a truck has to go to the human world," Holley giggled. "And how often does that happen?" Lightning asked. "Until now, never, but we built it like this just in case." "Well, at least none of us have to worry about getting stuck in it and holding everyone up," Sheriff said. "So, all we have to do is just drive through the hoop while it's on," Mater said, as Holley pushed a button and the large device flickered to life. "Yes, basically," Holley concluded. "Sounds simple enough," Mater said as he began to back up into a wall. "Now just wait a minute, I have to focus the machine on the desti-," Holley started to say until Mater hollered "Let's go!" and drove through the portal! "Mater!" Holley shrieked. "Mater! Wait!" Lightning shouted, driving after his best friend toward the portal. "Mr. McQueen, hold it!" Finn shouted, trying to stop the race car, but it was too late; Lightning had gone through the portal and was on his way to the human world. "Stickers!" Sally shouted, going after her boyfriend. "Please stop! Or you'll all end up in the desert!" Holley warned. But it was too late; at that point Luigi followed by Guido drove through the portal. Then Sarge charged in, accompanied by Fillmore. Then Ramone and Flo jumped in, with Sheriff close behind. Then, finally Red and Lizzie went through. Holley and Finn were mortified by what their friends had just done, but before they could do anything, the portal automatically shut down, in needing to be charged, which could take about a week. "It's all up to them now," Finn said. "How? They don't know what the Black Lord looks like, and some of them ended up in the desert!" Holley panicked. "Holley," Finn looked at his student questioning her panicked manner. "Oh yes, a good agent does not panic when something goes awry. He or she will find out what to do next with the help of anyone they can find," Holley quoted. In the human world, Mater found himself lying in the middle of a desert. He realized that he has been humanized and was glad he got to the human world in one piece, until he also noticed that he couldn't move. "McQueen? Miss. Sally? Holley? Finn?" he asked. When nobody answered, he realized that he was all alone. It also didn't take the once-tow truck to realize the side effects of dark colored clothing, such as his jacket. Before he knew it, his body started to get really warm and a liquid of some sort started to stain his face. He never experienced this before as a car, and so far, he didn't like it. "MCQUEEN! HOLLEY! FINN! MISS. SALLY!" he started to shout. Then, he heard the sound of an approaching truck, which came to a halt and heard two bangs and footsteps. "So that's who has been making all the racket," said an older voice. "What should we do, Dad?" asked the voice of a young boy. "Well, we might as well get him to the hospital. He looks a little dry and dehydrated as Dr. Garwood would say. What's your name, sir?" the older voice called Dad asked. "Mater…" Mater muttered before slipping unconscious. "Cool. Cool name," said the young voice as it faded out of his head.| Meanwhile, Lightning was in a similar situation, only he had a feeling exactly where he was. Judging by how the ground felt on his back, he knew he was on a dirt track of some sort, and he wasn't alone. "Who is he?" asked a girl with a slight Brazilian accent that reminded him of a young Carla Veloso. "I don't know, Samira. He just came out of nowhere," stated a boy with a Spanish accent that resembled a kid Miguel Camino. "Who cares who he is, Bryan! We need to get him to a doctor!" commanded a tough voice. "Calm down, Trenton," said another boy, "You know, he sort of looks like my dad, but his jacket and his hair is wrong." "Don't mention that, Leo, otherwise you'll get upset. Let's just get him to a doctor," said the voice called Samira. Before Lightning knew it, he felt himself being lifted up by several hands. The last thing he saw was a blur of blonde hair and brown hair. "He says I look like his dad…is he Luke McKay's son?" he wondered to himself.| Little did he know, Sally was lying near a motel building. She was only there for 5 minutes and now she was soaked in a liquid of some sort that made her smell bad. "Stickers? Mater? Where are you?" she groaned. No response. She was alone with nobody to help her, unless she could catch the attention of the people in the motel. "HELP! I NEED HELP!" she screamed very weakly. She knew nobody would have been able to hear that and thought all hope was lost, until she heard the sound of approaching footsteps and clanking of empty cans, as if all clustered in a bag. Then she heard a loud bang and running feet. "Mom! There's a woman here! Come quick! I think she's sick! She also looks like Amy's mom!" a teenage girl hollered. "Oh great, the person I look like used to live in this town," Sally thought. "Oh well, at least I'm saved." She decided now was the time to get some rest a fell unconscious. The last thing she saw was a girl with brown hair and heard the sound of an ambulance.| Luigi was sort of better. Sort of. He was in the shade of a mesa, but the humidity still got to him, showing him the disadvantages of wearing a suit. "Guido? Signore Finn? Mater? Mr. Lightning?" he asked. When nobody said anything, he spoke up a little. "Guido? Mater? Lightning?" Then, at that point, he started to freak out. "GUIDO! MATER! LIGHTNING! IS ANYONE HERE!" he shouted as loud as he could. He heard a slight echo, but no response from his friends. Then he heard footsteps followed by a small gasp and running feet. "Mama! There is-a man here! I think he requires our assistance! He looks like Papa!" screamed a girl with a slight Italian accent. "Thank-a goodness, I am saved," Luigi sighed before falling asleep. "She said I look-a like her father. I wonder if she's is-a Mario Camilo's daughter…"| Meanwhile, Guido was far from being calm. After so many years of being surrounded by friends and family, he was not used to being alone for this long, and he couldn't take it for one second longer. "(LUIGI! LIGHTNING! MATER! SALLY! ANYBODY!)" he shrieked at the top of his lungs. "Father, there is a man here," stated a boy's voice. "Leave him there, Aneil! He's probably a stupid hobo!" snapped a man's voice. "But Father, he looks like Tom Gale!" the boy called Aneil shouted. "What! Impossible! There is no way he could look like him. He has the wrong hair, and didn't you hear him? He spoke in…Latin I think," the man remarked. "Actually, it's Italian. My friend Iralanda taught me how to speak it," stated Aneil proudly. Guido heard the teen's father snarl under his breath "Stupid teen and his friends," before saying "Fine, but that is it! If Dr. Garwood says it's okay, we'll help him!" "Fine by me," Aneil said. "(Grazie, Aneil, grazie…now could you tell me how you know Tom Gale?" Guido asked. "I'll tell you later, what is your name?" Aneil said, before Guido fell unconscious. "Guido…" Guido muttered.| Sarge looked up at the bright, blue sky and parts of bushes. He knew from experience in the army, he had to remain calm until help came, but he knew that help wouldn't come. He was going solo from here on out. In some cases, he didn't mind being alone, but this was different; he had no source of oil or whatever humans lived on, so he knew his chances of dying were at their highest the moment. He didn't like the idea of dying before going into battle or on a mission. He wished he was back in Radiator Springs in his surplus shop. Heck, he wouldn't even mind having a small debate with Fillmore! Then, he heard a small groan and thought it was someone who happened to be in the desert as well as him. "Who goes there?" he asked. "Huh…" said a familiar voice. It was Fillmore! "Great, just great! Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a hippie." He thought to himself. Then he heard laughter from somewhere and saw a human teen with dark skin like Flo's human form wearing a lot of camouflage. "Enjoying being surrounded by nature? 'Cause the sun ain't showing much of them loving warmth as you hoped, is it? It's more like a burn," the teen went on. Sarge didn't know whether to laugh at this kid's humor or yell at the disrespectful teen for being rude to one of his friends. All he did was groan. "Huh?" the teen said, walking to where Sarge was and got a look of horror. "DAD! There's a military man here!" he shouted. "Hold your horses, Juan, I'm on my way!" shouted an older man's voice. "Dang, he looks a lot like an old friend of mine who fought with me in Afghanistan, John Stanson," stated the voice. "Another war man! That's exactly what this town needs," said a somewhat feminine boy voice. "Take a shower, Gavin!" the teen named Juan snapped. "Maybe me and this kid will get along after all," Sarge thought to himself, before fainting from exhaustion.| Fillmore didn't like to be made fun of, especially from military brats like this kid named Juan. He was nearly out of it when this kid called Gavin came onto the scene. He heard the teen's sneer at someone in the army, which concluded to him that it was Sarge he heard a few moments ago. Then he heard a gasp followed by Gavin shrieking "OMG! There's a hippie here! He looks like my dad, but with greenish hair! Mommy! I found a hippie!" "Oh man, this must be Buckminster's kid. At least he's a hippie like me…Sarge won't be too happy to hear he'll be dealing with more than one hippie for a few days," Fillmore smiled before fainting from the heat. He opened his eyes a little wider to see a teenager with short blonde hair and wearing as much tie-dye as Juan did camouflage.| Sheriff was stuck behind a bulletin board and was somewhat pleased to be somewhere he knew about. Little did he know, a cop and his son were investigating him to be sure he was still alive. "I'm pretty sure he's alive, Pop," said the teen's voice. "Still, we have to be sure he's in good shape before we get him to a hospital, Yasin," said the cop's voice. "Can we do that now? He's probably dying of thirst at least," the teen named Yasin stated. The cop laughed "You sounded like your mother for a split second. Then again, you are her son," the cop said. "Sheriff Mohamet, now is the time to be serious. No more joking around!" Yasin snapped, but laughed afterward. "Now you sounded like my old boss," the man Sheriff Mohamet laughed. "I wonder if this kid has seen Flo yet," Sheriff thought to himself as he fell asleep.| Meanwhile, Flo and Ramone ended up in someone's driveway for a café as far as Flo could tell. "That woman looks like Yasin's mother! And that man looks like my uncle Rico, but he died a year ago in a car crash!" shrieked a girl with a Hispanic accent. "Kelly, keep calm and carry on, girl!" shouted a boy that Ramone could tell was African American. "I know Quinton, but it's weird how you run into someone who looks like someone you knew who died a while ago," the girl called Kelly said. "This is nothing, Juan's sister, Sela, told me Juan and his dad found a dude who looks like a soldier Mr. Joenns fought alongside in a war, and he is also supposed to be dead! Leo texted me that he found a guy on the racetrack that looks like his dad, but with red hair. And Kendra found a woman near the motels that resembled Amy's mother. Then Gavin found a hippie that looks like his father in the face, and Iralanda found a gentleman who looks like a clone of her dad. Then Aneil found a dude who looked like Kendra's dad!" the teen named Quinton stated. "What about the people Travis and Yasin found?" Kelly asked. "They don't look like anyone so far," Quinton told the girl. "It's to _mas loco_ for me! I don't know if I'll be able to look at this guy without thinking of my uncle and crying my eyes out!" Kelly cried. "Kelly, there is only one of your uncle. This guy has a personality totally different from him, I mean, he dresses different," Quinton added. "True, but how will Yasin react once he sees this woman?" Kelly asked. "He might get a little upset or he won't notice, you never know with him," Quinton stated. "Poor girl. She's scared for everyone, even herself," Flo thought, before drifting off. "We better get our parents," Quinton said. "_Bueno_ idea," Kelly agreed as the teens ran into the café.| Finally, we learn what has happened to our last two heroes. Red found himself lying next to a large brick building. He could by the nearby breathing, Lizzie was not that far away from him. He glanced to his left where a few pots of flowers caught his eye. They were carnations as far as he could tell. He reached out to touch them when he heard a small gasp. He glanced in the direction he heard it and saw a short boy wearing a plastic fireman's hat, and holding a watering can. The teen dropped it and ran off. "Oh no! That was our only help! Now how will we live?" Then the kid came back with a woman about I her late 50s accompanied by a small girl with blonde hair that reached half-way down her neck and had right to get me, Christopher! These people need our help!" the woman exclaimed. "Grandma, that man looks like Chris's dad!" the girl exclaimed. "I know, Amy, I know," the woman said as Red fell unconscious. "Ridiculous humans," Lizzie thought to herself before she too, fell asleep.

Chap. 4: The next morning, Lightning was just waking up in a place he couldn't quite make-out. "Man, I had the weirdest dream that me and my friends got sent to the human world and I was lying in the middle of a dirt race track," he said aloud to himself. "It wasn't a dream, you were actually on a dirt track!" said an unidentified voice. Lightning screamed and found himself sitting up and realized he was still a human. "Great, just great. I'm still human and I don't know where any of my friends are," he thought to himself. "Do you need help, sir? You look a little confused," said the mysterious voice again. Lightning realized that it was the voice that said he looked like his father, but with red hair. He glanced to his right to see a teenage boy of about 14 with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. "Who are you?" Lightning asked the teen, only having an idea of what his last name was. "Leo McKay, at your service," Leo stated in a dignified manner, but ended up laughing afterward. "Boy, I'll never stay serious and dignified when I introduce myself like Dylan, Trenton, Aneil or Juan," he stated. "Okay…anyway, where am I?" Lightning had to know. "Where are you? You got to be kidding! You're in Star City! One of the racing capitals in the world…well it used to be…anyway, I don't live here. I live in a small town near here called Sun Springs," Leo explained. "Do you know anything about the Black Lord?" Lightning asked. Leo immediately stiffened. "D-d-did you say…B-b-b-black Lord?" the teen asked, wondering if he heard right. Lightning nodded. "Um…yeah, in fact, he lives in Star City. What do you want from him?" "Me and my friends came her to take him down before he forms an alliance with a bad guy where I'm from," Lightning explained. "Good luck," Leo said, even though he didn't sound that hopeful for the racer. "So, now since you know my name, what's yours?" "Lightning McQueen, hot shot racer. You probably know him in another world," Lightning stated proudly, trying to imply to Leo that he wasn't always human. "O-o-okay," Leo said, not exactly believing him. "Cool name, the same name as my favorite character in Cars." "He was your favorite?" Lightning knew he and the kid would get along just fine. "Yeah, my dad was a racer himself, but he didn't let too much fame go to his head after he came here, just like the race car," Leo explained. "Nice, so, do you think you can help me find my friends? They're in on the mission too," Lightning said. "Sure, follow me," Leo walked toward the door. Lightning slowly got out of the bed and put his feet on the floor, discovering that he still had his clothes on. He managed to stand up, but when he moved his feet to move like Leo did, he ended up falling flat on the floor flat on his face. "Can't you walk? You're not a cripple are you, because my town already has one of them," Leo said. "I'm pretty sure I can, I just got to get the hang of it," Lightning told the teen as he got back on his feet. He took a few careful steps forward, then backward, the forward again but a little more casually. "Okay then, let's go to Sun Springs. You can discuss your mission with the mayor there, Dr. Garwood," Leo said.| Sally had just woken up and noticed a little more quickly that she was still in the human world in one of the hospital wards. "Hello? Is anyone here?" she asked. "I'm here," replied a voice. Sally sat up and saw a girl with medium brown hair and brown eyes. "I'm Kendra Gale, who're you?" the stranger asked. "Sally Carrera, where am I?" Sally asked, not exactly sure. "Star City at the moment, but the mayor of Sun Springs wants to speak to you and some others because you turned up in our town out of nowhere," Kendra stated. "About what?" Sally asked. "Will we need an attorney?" Kendra laughed "No, I don't think so. Some people who are at the hospital in Sun Springs told the locals that they were on a mission to take down the Black Lord, so everyone is suspicious of them, and you, considering that you match the description of one of their friends." "Who told you about the mission?" Sally asked, already having a couple of ideas on who spilled. "A woman named Flo, a man named Ramone, and a cop named Sheriff," Kendra told her. "Wow, I expected Stickers or Mater to tell them," Sally sighed. "Stickers?" Kendra asked confused by the weird name. "That's the name of my boyfriend. His real name is Lightning McQueen, but I call him Stickers because he had so many stickers on his paint- I mean, jacket," Sally explained. "Just like the character in Cars, but he wasn't my favorite. My favorite was Sally…hey, you have the exact same name as her…weird," Kendra said. "Well, since you know where some of my friends are, could you take me to them?" Sally said. "Sure, my mom's car is outside," Kendra stated.| Mater had also regained consciousness and found himself in the hospital ward. Remembering what happened yesterday; he leaped out of the bed and shouted "Holley! Finn! McQueen! Miss Sally!" "Don't know any," said what appeared to be an invisible voice. "Who said that?" he asked. Then, Mater felt someone grab his ankle, causing him to yelp and fall to the ground. He then discovered a boy hiding underneath the hospital bed. The teen had light brown skin, black hair that was about a centimeter short and green eyes. The kid crawled out of hiding and stood up. "All according to plan," he said to nobody in particular. "To what? Take 5 years off my life!" Mater exclaimed. "Easy there, pal. I meant no harm. I'm Travis and you told me and my dad that you were Mater right?" the kid said. "So you were the fellas to help me, thank you," Mater said as he got back on his feet. "Yep, that was me and my dad. You were shouting the names of random people which are how we found you," Travis said. "Those weren't random names; they were the names of my friends. McQueen is my best friend and Holley is my girlfriend," Mater stated. "Is Holley a hottie?" Travis asked, grinning very big. "I guess that's one way to describe her," Mater chuckled, even though he had no idea what Travis meant. "I'd love to meet her, but maybe later, because you and some others we found caused a lot of trouble and Sun Springs's mayor wants to have a word with all of you," Travis explained. "Is that where I am?" Mater asked. "No, you're in the neighboring city, Star City, which I have to admit, is cooler than Sun Springs, literally, depending on the weather, but you know what they say: There's no place like home. Now let's go before the bus pulls away too far for us to jump on."| Sarge was a little disoriented when he woke up and he heard a few unidentified voices. "Do you think he's still alive?" asked a little girl's voice. "I'm not sure, Cydney. I'll poke him to find him," said an older girl's voice. "Don't poke him! He's a military man! He deserves respect! You're starting to turn into Adam and Gavin!" snapped a boy's voice. "Don't compare me to that moddie and hippie, Juan!" the girl bit back. A Sarge's vision became clearer, he noticed something nearing his face and grabbed it to defend himself. "Stand down!" he commanded as he sat up in his cot, followed by the yelp of a girl. Sarge noticed that the person he grabbed was a teenage girl of 14 with short, black dreadlocks, light brown skin and dark brown eyes. Behind her was a boy with black hair, brown skin, and the exact color of eyes. Sarge realized that it was the same kid that insulted Fillmore and found him. Near the kid he believed was Juan was a little girl of about 8 with black braids, brown skin and brown eyes. "Let her go, guy. She doesn't bite," Juan said cautiously. Sarge did as told, not wanting to cause trouble and the girl scrambled away very fast. "Sorry for my sister, Sela's, insolence. I'm Juan Joenns, and the little girl is my other sister, Cydney," Juan stated. "Sarge," Sarge muttered. "Cool, you in the army?" Juan asked. "What does it look like? Do I look like a damn hippie?" Sarge questioned the teens. "Whoa, no need for the language, brother. We were just wondering, there has been a lot of wannabes lately," Sela said. "Damn hippie…maybe I should call Gavin that," Juan said. "Yeah, and get fed soap by momma while you're at it," Cydney said sarcastically. "Where'd she learn sarcasm?" Sarge asked. "Our oldest sister, Darrian," Sela stated. "How many sisters do you have, Juan?" Sarge asked. "Sela's my twin, Cydney's the only one younger than me, then there's Anna, who's 16, and then Darrian, who is 18," Juan explained. "I'm the only boy out of the Joenns children." "Now since we've answered your questions, answer ours: Why are you so interested in the Black Lord?" Sela asked coldly. "Did Fillmore sell us out?" Sarge snarled. "Nope, some people named Flo, Ramone, and Sheriff did," Juan corrected the war veteran. "Well, that's a surprise," Sarge admitted. "Answer my question!" Sela snapped. "Sela, don't interrogate him. That's Sheriff Mohamet's job," Juan scolded his sister. "To heck with him, I want to know everything now!" Sela protested. "I'll tell mom," Juan threatened. "Okay fine," Sela gave in. "Now, our dad is parked outside. We're supposed to escort you to the café in Sun Springs until everyone else shows up and you're all summoned to court," Juan stated. "Court? Why?" Sarge had to know. "Nobody in town trusts you, because you're after the Black Lord," Sela sneered.| Fillmore had woken up a couple hours before and was sitting in a meditating position on his cot to wait for something to happen; he had a feeling someone was going to get him, and he wasn't wrong. A boy with short ash blonde hair, light green eyes, and wearing a tie-dye shirt and bandana entered the ward. "Oh goody! You're awake, that means I won't have to wait like Kendra and Leo did," the teen said. "Well, hi! I'm Gavin, the resident teen-hippie in Sun Springs. My mom is the woman adult hippie there." "Cool, I'm Fillmore. Peace man," Fillmore greeted. "Peace!" Gavin squealed, doing the peace symbol with his pointer and middle finger. Fillmore did the same. "The mayor of Sun Springs needs to speak to you and several others about your mission; he is not happy, then again…when is he? Ha, ha, ha!" Gavin laughed. "Alright," Fillmore climbed out of his bed. "Say, do you know a guy named Sarge?" "UGH! A military guy! No way jose! I let Juan talk to them so that they don't insult me," Gavin scrunched up his nose as if he smelled something worse than an unwashed bus. "Don't worry, dude. Sarge is pretty cool…sometimes. I got him to drink some of my organic fuel…well, actually, I tricked him by putting it in a container that isn't see-through. He never knew!" Fillmore explained. "Nice! Maybe I should try that on Juan and his sisters! Don't tell then, they'll murder me!" Gavin said. "I'll help you," Fillmore laughed, then he stopped when he realized the name Gavin mentioned. "Did you say Juan? He insulted me, man!" he exclaimed, a little less calmly. "Relax, Juan insults every single hippie he sees. Trust me, I'm used to it," Gavin stated. "Now come on! We got a bus to catch!| Luigi was already in the lobby of the hospital because a nurse came in and told someone would be there to pick him up. Then, he heard someone clear her throat. He glanced to his right to see a girl dressed in all yellow with black hair, fair skin, and dark blue eyes. "Ciao! I'm Iralanda Camilo. I'm supposed to take you to Sun Springs by bus because my mama's car got-a flat tire," the girl stated. "Ciao Iralanda, I am Luigi. I know a few things about tires, so I might be able to help your mother…but first I got to find my assistant, Guido," Luigi said. "Flo, Ramone, and Sheriff told us about him, but don't worry; my best guy friend, Aneil, is getting him to town. He's at a different hospital. Mr. Jago was not-a happy when he found him near his backyard. Luckily, Aneil knows Italian thanks to me," Iralanda told the Italian man. "You know Italian? Prove it, tell me something in Italian related to the word I say in Italian," Luigi said. "Okay," Iralanda said excited to play a game for the first time that day. "(Egg,)" Luigi began. "(Chicken,)" Iralanda responded. "(Bird,)" "(Bald Eagle,)" "(America,)" "(Apple pie,)" "(Food,)" "(Lasagna,)" "(Italy,)" "(the Pope,)" "(Church,)" "(Pray,)" "(Hope,)" "(Miracle,)" Luigi raised his eyebrows at that response. "(You hope for a miracle,)" Iralanda explained in Italian. "Okay, I believe-a you. Let's-a go," Luigi said as the two left the building.| Guido was indeed in another hospital, not that far from the one everyone else was in. He woke up a while ago and figured out how to pace and started to do that in his ward. Nobody had informed him that someone was going to get him, so he finally decided to take the opportunity and run for it. He threw open the door, ready to dash out when he noticed a boy with black hair, olive skin, and squinted eyes that shown blue-green was about to open the door himself. Both guys screamed and fell backwards. "(Take whatever you want! Just don't hurt me! Mater! Luigi!)" Guido shouted. "Easy there, Guido. I just came to get you and bring you to Sun Springs," the teen explained, trying to calm the Italian. "(How do you know my name? Who are you?! Luigi!)" Guido questioned. "(Why are Italians so dramatic?)" the kid asked himself in Japanese, then he turned toward Guido and said in English. "Dude, you told me your name in the desert." Guido stood up slowly and asked "(Are you Aneil?)" "Yep, and don't worry about your friends. They're all okay," Aneil said. "(Where are they?)" Guido asked, completely calmed down. "They're all on their way to Sun Springs, if we take the bus right now, we could meet up with my best female friend, Iralanda and our friend, Gavin. Do you have 100 dollars, because the toll is 50 per passenger," Aneil said. "(Er…no, I'm afraid not,)" Guido admitted. "Then we'll meet up with Travis," Aneil concluded. "(How will we get to the town with him? Car? Truck?)" Guido asked. "Neither, he travels by bumper," Aneil stated. "(Bumper?)" Guido had no idea what that was. "The back bumpers on the buses are wide enough to sit on; you just have to be careful to not get caught. Everyone in Star City knows about it, including the drivers, but only a few people will likely snitch, mostly Harold Trillo," Aneil explained. "(Okay, let's go,)" Guido said.| Flo was already in Sun Springs, along with Ramone and Sheriff. She had volunteered to help the café's owner, Mrs. Watson, run the café, which was fine with her considering she was low on help. Ramone was helping the local tattooist and graffiti artist, Mr. Shen. Kelly was Mrs. Watson's daughter that still had yet to go to college; Kelly had two sisters, named Maria and Juliana that were already in college. Quinton was Mr. Shen's son who was nice to everyone, but could tease someone every now and then. Sheriff was helping Mr. Mohamet with the patrol, already earning some trust from the locals. As far as Flo knew, the only people that trusted her and Ramone were Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. Shen, and Quinton. Some people, such as Mr. Jago, had become suspicious of her and Ramone ever since she explained their mission in Sun Springs. For some reason, she kept getting the feeling that she and the others would be in the town for a while until they can actually find the Black Lord. Flo had a way of sensing something about to happen.| Ramone had the exact same vibe and was worried that if he or his friends made a bad move, they would all be thrown out of town or taken to the nearest impound, which was right down the street like the one in Radiator Springs. He wished he was back in town where he would have been working on the paint job for a car. Life was normal and there was no danger at all in the world to worry. As he thought this over, he knew that the Black Lord was making his deals with Axlerod, increasing the danger in the Cars Dimension. He's heard of being homesick, but instead, he was dimension-sick.| Sheriff and Mr. Mohamet had already pulled over two speeding drivers, just like on every patrol. The once-cop car was starting to get the hang of things and was glad that he didn't have nothing to do. Mr. Mohamet and his son, Yasin, along with the rest of Sun Springs seemed to trust him instantly, except of course Mr. Jago, who suspects everyone of being an intruder. Only a few people trusted Flo and Ramone, but Sheriff told everyone that they were okay and trustworthy, he just wished they believed him.| Red had already left the hospital, pushing Lizzie in a wheelchair. "So people can get around like cars do," he thought to himself. "He was accompanied by two kids named Christopher Upton, a boy with golden brown hair and light brown eyes, and Amy Betts, a girl with light blonde hair, blue-green eyes and had to use these two metal crutches to help her walk. She also used them to defend herself, which Red learned the hard way when, according to her, he was staring into space for too long, even though he actually wasn't. She and Lizzie hit it off right away, because Amy also had a habit to stick stickers on random travelers. Christopher, or Chris, which is what Amy calls him, didn't seem to talk much, like Red. "He's not mute, he's taken a vow of silence," Amy explained when Chris didn't respond to Lizzie's greeting. "How do you know?" Lizzie asked. "I just know," Amy answered. It was that response that made Red doubt Amy's sanity. Everyone was on their way to Sun Springs, and some of them would meet up with each other and eventually, they would all be together again.

Chap. 5: "Let's see if we can find a bus that's heading to Sun Springs," Travis said. He and Mater had been wandering around Star City for a few hours, trying to find a ride to Travis's small town. At the same time, Aneil and Guido were also trying to find a bus. A big red one drove by and Travis and Aneil read the led light board on the front to see where it was going. "This is the one we want," the two teens said in unison. The two duos ran to the back of the bus to the wide bumper and hopped on, Travis and Aneil got on expertly, and Mater got on with ease, but Guido was having some trouble. "Lemme help you," Mater put his hand out to the Italian and pulled Guido onboard with some help from Aneil. "(Grazie,)" Guido said. "You're welcome!" Mater said. Then the two once-vehicles looked at each other wide-eyed, recognizing the others voice. "(Mater!)" Guido exclaimed. "Guido!" Mater cheered. "You know each other?" Aneil asked. "Shoot, of course we do! He's one of friends from my old town. He ran a tire store along with my other friend, Luigi," Mater explained. "(Yes, and Mater towed broken down cars,)" Guido added. "Huh?" Mater and Travis asked, having no idea what he said. "He said Mater towed broken down cars in the town," Aneil translated. "And there's one of my friends," Travis stated, waving at a dark green modern day Jeep. One of the back passenger windows rolled down and Juan stuck his head out. "What are you idiots doing?" he asked. "We idiots are going to Sun Springs by bumper, care to join us?" Aneil asked in a dignified manner. "No, I would not," Juan responded in the same manner. "You better not rat us out to the driver like you did last time," Travis said. "I only did that because Gavin was on there, and also, it was hilarious!" Juan stated. "Juan, roll down the window, I'm feeling a draft," Cydney whined. "You always feel a draft, kid!" Juan snapped. "Juan Joseph Joenns! Be nice to your sister and roll up your window!" Mr. Joenns commanded. "I hate my sisters," Juan mouthed to his friends, before rolling up his window. Then, a short boy with medium brown hair and blue eyes hopped onto the bumper. "Hi, Adam Edmund, son of the couple who own Edmund Emporium. Don't be afraid to take a picture, I don't mind," the kid said nonchalantly. "None of us even have camera," Mater said. "Then your all losers," Adam sneered. "Forgive him if you can, he's always like that," Aneil grumbled. "(So I see,)" Guido said. "Oh, are you French. My Aunt Clarissa loves French guys," Adam stated. "No, he's Italian actually," Aneil corrected. "In that case your new friend sucks," Adam sneered. "Room for one more?" asked a boy with black hair, olive skin and green eyes. "No Harold, go away," snarled Adam. "Oh come on, you still hold a grudge for me leaving you and Leo in the dust at last week's race? And my science teacher always said girls hold more grudges than dudes do," the teen named Harold jabbed, basically implying that Adam is a girl. Adam gave the Latino the "oh no you didn't face." Aneil did the "this won't end well face." Travis did the "should I leave face." Guido and Mater did the "I have no idea what's going on faces." Harold just laughed and ran to the front of the bus and shouted "Hey driver! There are 5 hobos hitching a ride in the back!" "That snitch!" Adam snarled. "Run!" Aneil shouted, taking off quickly. Guido, Mater, Travis, and Adam closely followed. "That was Harold Trillo. He always does that whenever we don't let him sit with us on the bumper," Aneil explained as the bus driver got off the bus and chased after them. "That kid's as bad as Chick Hicks," Mater said. "Actually, we always thought of him as bad as Francesco Bernoulli. Kelsey Hawkeye is Chick Hicks, she always cheats," Aneil said. "Run into the desert, we'll lose him there!" Adam ordered. Everyone did as told and ran into the desert toward Sun Springs.| Meanwhile, Gavin and Fillmore got to the bus and paid the toll with a 100 dollar bill Gavin said he found in a grate. "People always waste good cash," Gavin stated. The duo sat in the back row as Luigi and Iralanda got onto the bus sometime after they got on. "AHHH!" Gavin squealed when he saw Iralanda. "Gavin!" Iralanda squeaked excitedly when she saw her friend. "Is he your friend?" Luigi asked. "Yep, but not my BGF, like I said before, that's Aneil," Iralanda explained as she and the seats next to Gavin and Fillmore's. "Girl, I'm pretty sure you and Aneil would be perfect for each other, and not just as friends," Gavin said. Iralanda blushed a little as the driver got back on. "Sorry for the delay, I had to deal with a couple of stowaways," the driver apologized. Fillmore covered his mouth and softly chuckled. "What?" Gavin had to know what was so funny. "He rhymed without realizing it; 'delay' and 'stowaway'," Fillmore explained. Gavin snickered as well. "You sound-a familiar, do I know you?" Luigi asked. "That depends if I know you, man," Fillmore said. Luigi's jaw dropped "Fillmore?" "Yes?" Fillmore asked, his eyebrows raised. "Don't you a-recognize me?" "Not really, dude, sorry." "It's-a me! Luigi!" Luigi exclaimed. "Whoa! Luigi! Sorry, I had a bad trip for a few seconds and totally forgot what you looked like as a human!" Fillmore admitted. "Do you remember what everyone else looks like?" Luigi asked, worried that this could cause some problems when they met up with everyone else. "Um…Lightning has…red hair?" Fillmore guessed. "Correct, and Mater?" "Hmm…he has…black hair and tan skin?" "No, that's-a Ramone, Mater has brown hair." "Oh…Sarge has…dark green hair and a…stubble." "Great, you remember what some people look like at least." "Doesn't Guido have blue hair?" "No, he has silver hair. Sally has-a the blue hair." As the two adults discussed how everyone looked, Iralanda whispered to Gavin "This is going to be an interesting ride home." "Indeed," Gavin agreed.| Sally and Kendra were in Mrs. Gale's car on their way to Sun Springs. Sarge was in the Jeep with the Joenns. Red, Lizzie, Christopher and Amy were in Mrs. Betts's or Lydia's, as she insisted, van and were on their way to Sun Springs. Lightning and Leo were going to town on foot when the bus Gavin, Fillmore, Iralanda, and Luigi were on went by. "Come on, let's go the rest of the way on bumper. Also, I want to know what they're playing on it; the radio's so loud you can sometimes hear it 20 feet before you get on it," Leo said. He ad Lightning leaped onto the bumper. Adam, Aneil, Guido, Travis and Mater were still running through the desert when Adam fished a portable radio out of his hoodie pocket. "I wonder what they're playing in our local station," he said to nobody in particular. At the same time, Kelly was switching on the radio in the café with Flo, Ramone, Sheriff, Yasin and Quinton inside, the bus driver was turning on the radio on the bus, Mrs. Gale was turning on the car's radio, Lydia turned on the one in her van, and Mr. Joenns turned on the one in his Jeep, because Sela said she was bored. "Please don't let it be a song she knows," Juan prayed.

Chap. 6: A familiar strumming of a guitar was on the radio. "Yes! 'Drive By' by Train!" Sela cheered. "God, why don't you listen to me," Juan asked, looking up to what Sarge thought was nothing. "Cool, Train song," Leo said. "Hey, I know this song," Gavin stated. "Me too!" Iralanda said. "I did this song for karaoke once, let's see if I remember the words," Aneil said. "We'll help you out if you need it," Travis said, pointing at himself and Adam. _"On the other side of a street I knew, stood a girl that looked like you," Gavin sang. "I guess that's de ja vu," Iralanda added. "But I thought this can't be true," Leo crooned. "Cause you moved to West L.A., or New York, or Santa Fe," Sela sang. "Or wherever to get away from me," Juan blurted out on accident. "Oh, but that one night, was more than just right," Aneil crooned. "I didn't leave you," Adam added. "Cause I was all through," Travis finished. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Kendra sang. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Amy added. "Because I really fell for you," Quinton sang out loud. "Oh, I swear to ya," Kelly belted out. "I'll be there for you," Yasin added. "This is not a drive by!" Adam shouted. "Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight," Aneil sang like Sinatra. "After I take her home, I-I-I-I-I-I know," Travis jumped back in. "When you're moving," Iralanda sang. "Everything is grooving," Gavin added. "They don't I can sue me," Yasin sang. "Only way that you'd be," Quinton crooned. "Oh, I swear to ya," Amy sang. "I'll be there for ya," Kendra added. "This is not a drive by!" Sela finished. "On the other side in a downward spiral," Leo sang. "My love for you went viral," Gavin added. "And I loved you for every mile you drove away," Aneil crooned. "Now here you are again," Adam sang. "Let's skip to how you've been," Travis added. "And get down to more than friends at last," Iralanda sang. "Oh but that one night, was still a highlight," Juan sang. "I didn't leave you," Cydney jumped. "Until I came to," Kelly sang. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Lightning sang, finally joining in. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Fillmore added. "Because I really fell for you," Mater joined in. "(Oh I swear to you,)" Guido crooned in Italian, "I'll be there for you," Aneil added. "This is not a drive by," everyone that had been singing sang. "Just a shy guy," Ramone added. "Looking for it tonight," Flo sang. "After I take her home," Luigi sang. "I-I-I-I-I-I know!" Amy, Kendra, and Gavin sang. "When you're moving," Yasin, Travis, and Adam sang. "Everything is grooving," Quinton, Mater, Aneil, Leo and Lightning chorused. "They don't, I can sue me," Cydney, Guido, and Sally sang in unison. "Only way that you'd be," Juan and Sarge accidently sang and covered their mouths. "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by," everyone sang in unison. "(Please believe, that when I leave,)" Guido crooned. "There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you," Aneil added. "And a little time to get my head together too," Travis and Mater added. "On the other side of a street I knew," Lightning sang. "Stood a girl that looked like you," Mater added. "I guess that's de ja vu," Fillmore sang. "But I thought this can't be true," Luigi jumped in. "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by! Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight. After I take her home, baby, I-I-I-I-I-I know! When we're moving, everything is grooving, they don't, I can sue me. Only way that you'd be. Oh, I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya! This is not a drive by!" everyone finished. "That was great," Leo complimented. "Thank you," Lightning said. "And look! There's Sun Springs!" Kendra pointed out. "We're almost home!" Iralanda squealed. "Oh thank goodness, I don't think I can run for much longer," Travis admitted. _

_Chap. 7: When the bus finally got to Sun Springs, Lightning and Leo jumped off the bumper__and ran into the café. "They have good coffee here, let's get you a cup before you set out and find you friends," Leo said. "Hey Kelly, I'll have my usual and Lightning will have an expresso." "Alright, just let me get these glasses clean," Kelly replied as she washed a glass cup spotless. "You should get more workers here, that way you can focus more on stuff that you like to do," Leo suggested. "You ask that every time you come in here Leo, and like I said all those time, I can't tell you how many times I asked my parents to start hiring, but we did get a new waitress named Flo," Kelly said. "Flo? Does she have brown skin?" Lightning asked. "Yeah, why?" Kelly asked. "I think I know her!" Lightning exclaimed. "In that case, I'll go get her," Kelly left the room. "So much for my usual. Thanks a ton Lightning," Leo said sarcastically. "You're welcome Leo," Lightning said. Just then Gavin and Fillmore entered the café. "Kelly! Where are you girl!" Gavin shouted. "She's getting the new waitress in here! Please don't shout!" Leo shouted. "I'm not the only one shouting here anymore!" Gavin hollered back. "You'll both get shouted at if you don't stop!" yelled Mrs. Watson. "Sorry, Mrs. Watson," Gavin and Leo said. "Oooohhhh, red- head," Gavin said, gawking at Lightning's hair. "It's redder than a tomato, do you dye it?" "Er…no," Lightning muttered. "Gavin, that's not exactly nice," Leo told the teen. "You sound like Juan when you talk like that, and besides, I'm right, look how red it is. Sooooo red!" Gavin started to muss up Lightning's hair. "Stop that Gavin," Leo said, seeing the once-race car in distress. "How would you feel if I touched your hair?" "I don't like being touched by people in general," Gavin said, taking his fingers out of Lightning's hair. "Watch this," Leo whispered to Lightning. The teen reached out his hand toward Gavin's ear. He was only a centimeter away from contact when the hippie teen noticed what his friend was doing. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" he shrieked, jumping backwards into a table and chairs, knocking both down. "What was that!" Mrs. Watson shouted. "Everything's fine!" Fillmore replied. "It better be!" As Fillmore helped Gavin stand up and reset the table and chairs, Juan and Sarge entered the building. "What happened in here?" Juan asked. "I freaked out Gavin," Leo stated. "Good for you, cadet!" Juan congratulated the blonde. "You are all mean," Gavin said. Sarge, who remembered what Fillmore looked like human, was ready to turn tail and run before he was spotted. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough. "Hey!" Fillmore went over to him, with a big ridiculous grin on his face. "Do I know you?" Fillmore asked, still smiling at the war veteran. "…No, you must be mistaken. I've never seen you all my life," Sarge lied, trying to trick the hippie. Seeing his neighbor's reaction, he could tell he succeeded. "Man, green hair and stubble…are there so many people like that?" Fillmore wondered to himself. Sarge threw open the door, ready to run, but there was a man and a teenage boy in his way. "Whoa! In a hurry, amigo? Sarge?" It was Ramone! "You know this dude?" Quinton asked. "Yeah, he ran a surplus shop in my town," Ramone stated. "Hey! You lied to me, man!" Fillmore exclaimed, mocking hurt. "Hey, even military guys have lie to get out of a bad situation," Juan informed the hippie. "Sarge? Ramone? Fillmore?" Lightning said. "Lightning?" all three guys said at once. "Am I interrupting something?" Kelly asked, as she entered the room with Flo. "Flo!" Lightning, Sarge and Fillmore exclaimed. "Lightning! Sarge! Fillmore! You're alive!" Flo gasped happily. "you should have more faith in them, Flo," Kelly said, as Luigi and Iralanda entered. "Hey, has anyone seen-a Aneil?" Iralanda asked. "Last time I saw him, he was sitting on the bumper of one of the buses heading here with Travis and two guys I didn't know," Juan stated. "But the bus got here 10 minutes ago! Where are they?" Leo and Lightning looked at each other; the bus Juan was talking about was the one they rode to Sun Springs, but there was no sign of anyone else. "Um…me and Lightning got here on that bus, but we didn't see them," Leo admitted. "Oh no," Quinton groaned. "What's wrong?" Flo had to know. "They got chased off, it's always them. They are probably running through the desert right now," Quinton explained. "Who did the people with them look like?" Luigi asked, knowing that Guido was supposed to be with Aneil. "One had tan skin and brown hair, the other wore too much and had silver hair," Juan described. "Mater and Guido!" all the cars people exclaimed in unison. "What about Mater and Guido?" asked Sally as she, Kendra, Red, Lizzie, Amy and Christopher entered the room. "Sally!" everyone said. Lightning jumped out of seat and ran to hug his girlfriend. "It's so good to see you alright," he said. "Oh, so this is Stickers," Kendra said. "You told her?" Lightning mortified. "Your nickname is Stickers!" Leo exclaimed, erupting in laughter, followed by the other teens, except Christopher, who just grinned. "It's funny on many levels!" Juan added. Sarge, fed up with all the teasing, decided to step in. "HEY!" he shouted, silencing everyone in the room and giving him their attention. "Cut it out. It's not as funny as you think. How would feel if someone called you a ridiculous nickname?" he scolded. "Well, if it's from our parents or girlfriends or boyfriends, it'd be alright, but if it was coming from a random old man, like you, that'd be creepy," Gavin said oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room knew better not to say something like that, or got a hint. Sarge approached the teen-hippie very threateningly, making the kid tremble with fear. "Would you mind repeating that, I didn't hear you," Sarge snarled. "Hit him, hit him," Juan chanted under his breath. "Whoa! Don't give him any ideas!" Gavin shrieked. "Oh, come on, man, he didn't mean it," Fillmore said. "Sarge, step away from the kid, or I'll have to arrest you for threatening a minor," Sheriff warned, entering the café along with Yasin. "I wasn't threatening him," Sarge protested. Then, everyone realized who it was. "Sheriff!" everyone said, glad to see the cop. "Afternoon everyone," Sheriff said. "Good to see that we're all here in one place." "Almost everyone, Mater and Guido are currently MIA," Sarge informed the police officer. "I knew that would happen, always want to see what's to see in a new place," Sheriff said, shaking his head. "No, we think they got run out of Star City along with some friends of ours," Kelly said. "They're all in the desert as we speak! I just know it!" Then, Adam entered the café by bursting through the doors. "Hello little people, what a great day it was for a jog," he stated to nobody in particular cheerfully. Lightning snickered "We're the little people? Have you checked your height recently?" "Excuse me?" Adam said, glaring in the racer's direction. "Uh-oh," Leo muttered, moving to another seat, knowing this could end violently. "I mean, you're a lot shorter than us. Are you the youngest kid in town?" Lightning asked. "No, that's Juan youngest sister, Cydney, the second youngest are Christopher and Amy, who are both 12, and the third youngest is Sara Marcov, who is 13," Adam stated. "So how old are you?" Sally asked. "How old did you think I was?" Adam asked, daring her to say more. "…9…" Sally answered hesitantly. Before anyone knew what was going to happen, Adam lunged at Sally like a wild jaguar, who jumped back, knocking over another chair and table. Kendra and Gavin leapt into action by grabbing Adam and holding him back. "Why do people always think I'm younger than I am! I'm 14! 14!" Adam shrieked. "Let her live, Adam, let her live! She didn't know you would be offended," Gavin shouted. Adam finally gave up on trying to get Sally and quit struggling and Kendra and Gavin released. "Well, nearly all the teens in Sun Springs are here, everyone this is Adam Edmund. His parents own Edmund Emporium, the clothing store," Leo said. "I'm also the-," Adam started to say when all the other teens finished saying, "The richest kid in town, we know!" "Hey, no need to be sassy," Adam said. Then he walked over to the counter up to Flo. "I need a small glass of ice water, two medium buckets of ice water and two large buckets of ice water," Adam ordered. "Wow, that's a lot of water for one kid," Flo said. "Actually, the small glass is for me, the buckets are for some friends of mine," Adam explained. "Can we use buckets for water?" Flo asked Kelly. "Yeah, it's a thing my dad started when I was little, when __they__ were still alive," Kelly said. The other dads went along with it, desperate to stay cool," Kendra added. "Except for my dad, he wasn't that desperate and stayed dry," Iralanda said. "Until my dad doused him with a large bin of water," Kendra threw in. "And my dad wanted to beat your dad with said bin," Iralanda snarled. "Sounds great," Sarge said sarcastically. "Yep, really refreshing," Gavin said. "Adam, Aneil and Travis are missing," Amy said. "What? No they're not, they're outside, just help with the buckets," Adam said. Adam walked out with his glass of water and one of the buckets, followed by Gavin, who got the other medium bucket, Lightning and Leo got the first large bucket and Juan and Sarge got the second one. "How do you drink out of that?" Sally asked. "We don't drink it, we splash it," Adam corrected. "Splash it?" Lightning said, not sure what that was. "I'll show you," Adam said. Outside, Travis was kneeling on the ground, panting in and out and sweating very badly; Aneil was standing nearby, bent over, panting just as badly; Mater was leaning against a wall and Guido was lying on the ground on his back. "You know, leaning against a brick wall with the sun beating down on it all day isn't going to make you feel better," Kelly warned. "I wondered why I was getting warmer," Mater said, stepping away from the wall. "Why don't you take off your jacket?" Iralanda asked. "You can do that! How?" Mater asked, begging to know. "How? You don't know how? Who is this guy?" Juan asked. "My name is Mater," Mater stated proudly as he took off his jacket, finding out on his own. Adam and Gavin handed the medium buckets to Aneil and Travis who immediately splashed the contents on their heads, necks and shoulders. "SWEET RELIEF!" Travis shouted. "Let me try that!" Mater grabbed a large bucket and poured its contents all over himself. As he shook out his wet hair, he said "You were right Travis, this is better!" "What about Guido? I think he passed out while you were inside," Aneil said. "He did? I'll handle this," Adam said, finishing the last drop of his own water. He grabbed the last large bucket and carried it over to the unconscious Italian, where he poured the freezing water all over him. Guido shot up from the ground, screaming "(OH DODGE THAT'S COLD!)" "Well it has to be cold to cool you off," Aneil said. Guido glared at Adam and Aneil for a few moments before wringing the water from his hat. "What happened to you guys?" Lightning asked his friends. "Some kid named Harold told the driver we were sitting on the bumper and the driver chased us off into the desert," Mater explained. "Aiy, I knew it was him," Kelly said. "He's such a bully," Amy sneered. "He doesn't mean to be a bully, it's just that his spoiled life and ego got the best of him," Gavin said. "At least that's what we believe." "Sounds like a friend of ours named Francesco," Lightning said. "Well, I'm going to get back him and beat him," Leo said. "What?" Lightning asked, not sure what Leo meant. "Every weekend, all the teens in Sun Springs and Star City with a motorcycle gather at the dirt track for a race to see who is the fastest motorist," Leo said. "I'm in those races, and so is Adam." "Really, who won last week?" Lightning asked. "As expected, Dylan Barnes won, he's won every race ever Trenton quit racing after his big accident. He was one of the teens who helped carry you off the race track, along with our friends Samira and Bryan, during practice sessions," Leo explained. "Oh, does Trenton train you?" Sally asked. "No, he was there to make sure nobody got hurt and was ready to do first aid," Adam said. "I wasn't there that day because I needed to get one of my tires replaced and Aneil took too long!" "For the record, the tires I'm used changing are the ones for cars, not motorcycles," Aneil defended. "Thankfully, motorcycle races don't need pit stops," Iralanda confided to Luigi, "Otherwise it will be a while until everyone gets back on the track." "What was Trenton's big accident?" Lightning asked. "None of your business," snapped an unidentified voice. "Lightning turned around to see a boy that was tall lanky with medium brown hair and light brown eyes. Lightning was the first to notice the scars of stitches on his left leg. Dozens of freckles decorated his face. If it weren't for his negative frown, he would appear friendly. "I'm Trenton Garwood, the son of the doctor who is also the town judge in this town," Trenton said. Then, a girl with very pale skin, very short curly black hair, and green-brown eyes, donning a black t-shirt, shorts and boots. "And I'm Sara Marcov, daughter of the local fortune-tellers in this town," she said. "Is everyone here?" Trenton asked. Sally did a head count to be sure everyone was there. "Yep, we're all here," she concluded. "Good, because you all need to go to the courthouse and talk with our parents," Sara said darkly. "Should we come too?" Adam asked. "No, my dad said you'll just throw them off," Trenton said. "What about Mrs. Watson? She's still in the café," Flo said, recalling the owners recent yelling. "Actually, that's a walkie-talkie that's connected in the ceiling that transmits to the courthouse," Trenton explained. "Wow, that's new," Kelly said. "Why do they want to speak to us? We're just here to take down the Black Lord," Mater stated. "That's why they're here?" Adam asked Gavin, who nodded. "Exactly, but nobody trusts any of you to leave town to find him yet, especially after what happened to Mario Camilo, Ryan Buckminster, Savannah Betts, Scott Betts, Richard Upton, Katelyn Upton, Luke McKay, Tom Gale, and Yasmine Mohamet," Trenton stated. Lightning glanced at Leo, Iralanda, Gavin, Amy, Christopher, Kendra and Yasin, who all just looked at the ground, trying not to meet his gaze. "The courthouse is over there, you can let yourself in," Trenton said, pointing at a big brick building on the other side of town. Lightning looked back at his friends before everyone went over to the building to figure out what was going to become of them._

_Chap. 7: The group of friends entered the building and started to go up the stairs to the courtroom. On the way, Lightning had a feeling they were being watched and turned his head to see if he was right. For a split second, he thought he saw Guido's reflection in a mirror, until he realized Guido was nowhere near the mirror, and that the man had no hat and brown hair, like Kendra. He disappeared instantly as everyone walked down another hallway. Clearly, Mr. Gale was a little shy around new people. On the next floor, something weird happened. As everyone was approaching the courtroom when they heard someone say "Do I have a brother?" making everyone jumped. The group turned around to see a man who looked exactly like Luigi! Only his suit was green. "Who are you?" Luigi asked, clearly freaked out. "Mario Camilo, I trust you know my daughter?" the man said. "Yeah, we met her a while ago…so, what happened to you and the other people that Trenton mentioned?" Lightning asked. In an instant, Mario snapped his fingers and disappeared in a second. "Was that a ghost?" Sally asked. "A ghost, oh please, there's no such thing," Sarge said. Everyone entered the courtroom to see a bunch of parents. Sarge recognized Mr. and Mrs. Joenns, mainly because he met them beforehand and they almost always were in uniform; There was a woman with blonde hair, wearing a flowery sundress and tie-dye headband who everyone assumed was Gavin's mother; Mr. Mohamet was in his cop uniform and wasn't that hard to miss; there was two African Americans with tattoos on their arms, so that made them most likely Mr. and Mrs. Shen, Quinton's parents; there was a man with slightly tan skin, bald, and sunglasses and a woman that looked like an older version of Kelly, which made them Mr. and Mrs. Watson; there was a woman with long black hair pulled back in two braids and wore a yellow dress, making her Mrs. Camilo; there was a man and woman with brown hair and judging by their expensive-looking clothing, were very rich and were Adam's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund; there was an Asia couple who were Aneil's parents; there was a woman with dirty blonde hair who Lightning guessed was Mrs. McKay, Leo's mother; there was a woman with brown hair who was Mrs. Gale; there were these two African Americans that Mater guessed were Mr. and Mrs. Mitchem; there was this couple who looked darkly at them, revealing that they were Sara's parents; and there was an elderly woman who was Amy's grandmother, Lydia. "Okay, we're here, what do you need to talk to us about?" Mater asked as cheerfully as possible, hopeful that it would make the tense mood change. Just then, the doors banged open and a man that looked like an older version of Trenton entered the room followed closely by a woman. "Oh a lot of things," the man said as he made his way to the judge's chair. "I'm Dr. Garwood, the judge and doctor of Sun Springs. I believe you've met my son, Trenton," "I see, now I've been told that you are on a quest to take down one of the country's worst mobsters, the Black Lord. Do you have any idea what you're dealing with?" Dr. Garwood said. "Our friend, Finn, said something about him the most feared mafia leader in the world," Mater said. "Do you know why?" Dr. G asked. "Finn didn't go into that much detail," Lightning admitted. "How about I enlighten you," Dr. Garwood said as Mrs. Garwood got a box and put it on the table in front of Sally. Sally took out its contents: dozens of newspapers. Each one had a different story: "Couple of Sun Springs Murdered In Front Of 3-Year-Old Son" featured a picture of a couple holing a 3-year-old in what seemed to be a picture before the murder. Sally knew the man was Richard Upton, Christopher's father, and when she saw the woman, she remembered what Holley's looked like: long wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail, only instead of purple hair, this woman had light brown hair; the next article said "Italian Shoe Store Owner Shot Dead In Front Of Daughter", Sally instantly recognized Mario Camilo in the before picture. According to the story, the Black Lord was on a rampage and was trying to mug the café, but Mario tried to stop him and ended up getting killed in the process in front of Iralanda, who was 4 at the time; "Motel Manager Thrown Into Mirror, Died On Impact", had a picture of Mr. Gale on it. It read that one of the Black Lord's henchmen had checked into the motel only to kill a guest, who owed money to the Black Lord, and Mr. Gale tried to stop him, but the henchmen threw him into a mirror and the broken shards impaled Mr. Gale badly. That happened when Kendra was 5; "Resident Hippie Shot And Bleeds To Death", Ryan Buckminster, the man in the picture who Holley said Fillmore was based off of, was just trying to feed the quails in the nearby coop when the Black Lord just walked up and shot at him several times. Ryan limped to the café where his wife screamed when she saw the sight of her husband and nearly fainted. Despite he had lost a lot of blood, he managed to tell his friends who did this to him and he died in his wife and neighbor's arms. Gavin was 6 when this happened; "Military Veteran And Wife Murdered, Disabled Daughter Left In The Care Of Grandmother", Savannah and Scott Betts were n he picture shown with Amy, who was 5 at the time, in the article. The Black Lord had broken into their curio shop, trying to rob it, but Scott, who was in the military and had a metal leg tried to stop, but the Black Lord broke the leg and killed him in a few shots. Savannah then attempted to stop him with a knife, but the Black Lord shot her too. One of the other residents, Jackson Joenns, heard the commotion and stormed the premises with a shot gun, in high hopes that he could help his fellow soldier, but when he got there, it was too late; Scott and Savannah were soaking in their own blood and the Black Lord was nowhere in sight. Lydia raced into the building and retrieved her granddaughter, who at that point was a crying wreck; "Female Cop Killed. So Close To Ending The Tyranny", according to the article, Yasmine Mohamet had found the location of the Black Lord and attempted to take him out, but she failed and was shot dead by the mobster and died in her husband's arms. Yasin was 8 at the time; the last newspaper read "Race Car Driver Killed from a Tampered Motorcycle, Black Lord Main Suspect", Luke McKay was just going around for and innocent ride on his motorbike when the engine exploded, taking him with it. Mr. Shen and Mr. Mitchem tried to put the flames out as fast as they could, but it was too late. Leo was 9 when he lost his father. "I'm sorry," Sally said softly as she put all the articles in the box. "See why the Black Lord is dangerous, and personally, we all think you're all crazy to go after that maniac. He hasn't killed anyone for 5 years, and we don't you to ruin that," Dr. Garwood stated. "And also nobody can stop the Black Lord, in case you didn't notice the one about the cop," Mr. Mohamet sneered. "Okay, we get it, the Black Lord killed some of your loved ones, we understand, but we can stop him and we have to stop him before he makes an alliance with a bad guy from our home," Lightning said. "And we have a plan on how!" "How?" Mr. Joenns questioned. Lightning had no idea what to do. Finn or Holley didn't mention one to them, he was hoping Sarge or Sheriff would step in with a plan, but judging by the silence from both, they got nothing. "What are your names, we didn't quite get them?" Dr. Garwood asked. "Lightning McQueen," "Mater," "Sally Carrera," "Luigi," "(Guido,)" "Ramone," "Flo," "Sheriff," "Sarge," "Fillmore," "Lizzie," "The big fella's Red," "So I see, well, since I can't trust you to leave town and move on with your 'plan', I have no choice but to hold you all here in town for a week," Dr. Garwood said. "A week, Dr. Garwood, you can't do this!" Lightning exclaimed. "I just did, so there's no objection now," the doctor said. "And while you're in town, if you do anything that threatens our children, you will be thrown out!" "What will we do for a week?" Mater asked. "Well, you could watch our kids, they always do something crazy and at least one thing ends up in flames at the end of the day," Mr. Mohamet stated. "Please tell me that's a phrase," Luigi pleaded. "After Dr. Garwood said that if we threaten your kids we'll have to leave, you trust us to watch them?" Lightning said. "Mohamet is right, someone has to make sure Travis doesn't release another stamped of cattle into Sun Springs again," Mr. Mitchem said. "And how recent was that?" Sally asked. "About a week ago." "We can do that, besides, they trust us already," Flo said. "Well, they're young, they don't know who's trustable yet," Mr. Joenns stated. "My son is very mature, he doesn't need to be watched," Dr. Garwood said. "Sounds alright, so, are we going to watch them all at once or we going to get assigned a kid?" Sally asked. "We'll decide who gets to watch who. We'll start with our youngest, Christopher," Dr. Garwood stated. "Well, I'm Christopher's legal guardian; I say it should be Red. They have some things in common," Lydia said. Red nodded. "Now Amy, she can't go too far, so we need someone to distract her with a lot stories so she never leaves," Lydia added. "Lizzie can do that, she has a lot of stories to tell," Sally offered. "Yasin will be watched by Sheriff. That kid will become a cop one day and he has to know what to do by then," Mr. Mohamet said. "Sara will not watching," Mr. Marcov insisted. "Quinton has a lot more in common with Ramone, so Ramone will watch him," Mr. Shen said. "Okay, esé," Ramone nodded. "Lightning reminds me of Luke, so it seems right to have him watch my son, Leo. Like you, Leo is big on racing, you could teach him to keep him occupied," Mrs. McKay said. "Sally will watch Kendra," Mrs. Gale said. "Are you sure you don't want Guido to?" Mrs. Marcov whispered to the woman. Mrs. Gale bit her lip, holding back tears. "I'm sure, and besides, Kendra wouldn't be able to understand him." "Travis will only listen to people who are like him, so Mater should watch him," Mr. Mitchem said. "Oh come on, I'm not that much like him. I never set a dozen cows free," Mater said. He felt his friend's eyes on him. "Okay, there was one time, but that was an accident." "Gavin only trusts hippies, so Fillmore should watch him," Mrs. Buckminster stated. "Of course," Sarge muttered under his breath. "My son has to know how to use his military skills, so Sarge should teach him," Mr. Joenns said. "Iralanda would be entrusted to Luigi," Mrs. Camilo said. "I will make-a sure she stays-a safe, signora," Luigi promised. "My daughter, Kelly, is very good, but she is a little clumsy as a waitress, and she's begging for help with her singing, and I think Flo could do both, if she can," Mrs. Watson said. "Adam will be watched by Lightning, because he too, has a passion for racing," Mr. Edmund said. "Considering Aneil is the only other person who can understand Guido, he shall be watched by Guido," Mrs. Jago said. "(I am up for it,)" Guido said. The parents looked at him, not sure what he said except for Mrs. Camilo. "He said he is up for it," she translated. "Well, that's it for this session, everyone clear the court," Dr. Garwood said. "But before that, I must warn you, there is a small gang of teens that come into town very often, picking on our kids, mostly Christopher, Amy, Yasin, Leo, Gavin, and Kendra." "Well keep them safer than a safe house," Lightning said._

_Chap. 8: Back outside, the teens were gathered outside of the café, waiting for their friends to come back when they saw them coming out of the courthouse. "What happened?" Leo asked when they got to the café. "We got good news and bad news," Sally said. "The good news is that we can stay here for a week, the bad news is that we are being forced to keep you out of trouble." "Is it because of the cattle stamped?" Travis asked. "Maybe," Mater said. "When I snuck a dead snake into one of the cupboards?" Aneil added. "(Perhaps,)" Guido said. "When I blew up the school?" Gavin blurted out. "Yep, that too-Wait you did what!" Fillmore exclaimed. "That was you? I got blamed for that!" Juan upbraided. "That could explain what happened to the bomb you brought for history class that went missing," Aneil stated. "When did this happen?" Lightning asked. "Last day of school, luckily our lockers were empty," Gavin said. "And we can't repair, so our option is a private school, which would make our parents go bankrupt," Leo said. "Except for mine," Adam said. "But not long, we're down to our last 5 million!" "My parents couldn't even afford my boot camp this year," Juan added. "Well, that won't be a disaster, I could train you," Sarge offered. "Whoa there, pop, I meant that as a good thing, but that doesn't mean I don't support the military," Juan said. "Yeah, the company of legal murdering," Gavin sneered. "Oh is that what you hippies call us?" Juan asked. "First time I've heard that, but it is true," Fillmore admitted. "I got set up with Leo and Adam because they both love racing and their parents said I could teach them something," Lightning said. "You could train me and Adam how to race on motorbikes?" Leo asked. "Yeah, I have a lot of tricks up my sleeves," Lightning stated. "They won't be cheating, because I don't want to cheat like Kelsey Hawkeye," Adam said. "Sounds like a racer I knew in the fast lane." "My dad didn't set me up with anyone, did he?" Trenton asked. "Nope, and neither did Sara's parents," Sally said. "Good." "I already know how to be a ninja, what can Guido teach me? How to be an assassin like Enzi Auditoria," Aneil asked. "I'm guessing you played the League of Assassins game. Which was rated M," Iralanda said. "Maybe," Aneil said. "He plays a lot of video games," Leo stated. "(I am a trained professional for race car pit crews,)" Guido stated. "You know how to do that? I've always wanted to that! Dude, you got to teach me," Aneil begged. "And I always wanted to be a crew chief, I'll be the first girl one," Iralanda said. "I'm pretty sure there some female crew chiefs as there are racers," Kendra said. "I could teach you how to do that, we could join Lightning and Leo and Adam when they train to race," Luigi suggested. "And I have a lot of stories that Amy would probably love to hear," Lizzie said. "Oh, I love stories," Amy cheered. "What about me?" Kelly asked. "Your parents' think you need to brush up on your waitress skills and also that you've been begging for a singing teacher, and I can teach you both," Flo said. "What about Christopher?" Kendra asked, pointing at the shy kid. "His only skills are being silent and planting flowers," Juan added. "Red knows how to be quiet and plant flowers too," Mater stated. "Who are my parents forcing to watch me?" Quinton asked. "Me, because according to them, we have something in common," Ramone said. "Well, you like to do car graffiti right? So do I and maybe you could teach me how to do it better," Quinton stated. "Let me guess, my dad put me up with Sheriff," Yasin said. "Yes, mainly because you have to know how to be a cop by the time you're an adult," Sheriff explained. "Well, on the bright side, since your teacher is a cop, you won't be able to play pranks and explore Star city, wait a second, you like to do that stuff!" Juan laughed. "Well, if your dad had army man there teach you, you probably won't even do anything. Atten Hut!" Yasin stated. Juan immediately stood up straight and still. "Can somebody say 'at ease' so I can punch Yasin into a wall," Juan asked. "That's way your parents want us to watch you, to make sure you don't do anything crazy or dangerous," Sally said. "So it was because of the cattle," Travis said. "Why'd did you even set them free?" Lightning asked. "Not on purpose, I didn't know they were going to do that, I was only trying to get one." "So you'll watch us for a week?" Kendra concluded. "Yes, but only because your parents told us to," Sally explained. "Okay, we're game, and you guys don't seem new to this world so we could teach you some stuff while we're at it," Adam joked. "Like not to do that," Quinton said, pointing at Mater, who was shoving a gas pump into his pocket and was pumping gas into his pocket. "I was hungry," Mater said. The teens looked at the once-tow truck as if he were insane. When Mater finished, Sara handed him a lighter. "Can you turn that on and put it in your pocket?" she asked sweetly. "Alright," Mater obliged. He shoved the flame tool into his pocket full of gas, immediately setting his jeans on fire. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Mater screamed, running around the town as fast he could. "Mater stay still!" Juan commanded. Mater stopped in his tracks and turned toward the army brat. Juan whipped out his cell phone and snapped a few pictures of the incident. "Okay, you can continue now," he said, then muttered. "These are going on my Facebook page and Twitter." Sarge looked at the teen in disbelief as Adam whipped out his camera phone and began to film the incident. "Internet gold!" he exclaimed, laughing. "You are all unbelievable," Sally scolded as Red went after Mater with a fire extinguisher, trying to put him out. "And you're told to make sure we don't do stupid things," Gavin said. Finally, Red got Mater and within seconds, Mater was buried up to his shoulders in foam. "Thank you, Red," Mater panted. Just then, Mr. Mohamet ran over to the scene. "What the hell happened? I saw the entire incident from the window!" the cop exclaimed. "Mater lied that he was smart and that Mater was his first name," Travis joked. "Liar, liar, his pants were on fire," Kelly sang with a small crack in her voice. "I'm starting to see why your parents wanted me to teach you," Flo said. "Just don't let it happen again, or you're all out of this town," the cop warned. "But, officer, Mater kept away from us, we were not-a harmed," Iralanda said. "And it was just Mater, not everyone," Gavin added. "And Red put out the fire," Amy finished. After that, Mr. Mohamet was about to say something, but shook his head and left. "I can see why your father wanted me to watch you, to teach what to do in an emergency," Sarge scolded. "What if one of your friends was set on fire?" "Which friends?" Juan asked. "How about your neighbor, Gavin?" Sally asked. "Oh please, he'll just let me burn," Gavin said. "So, what first?" Mater asked after climbing out of the mountain of foam. "How about we teach you what food is?" Leo suggested, worried for the man's sanity._

_Chap. 9: That night, the cars-people went to bed in an old apartment that hadn't been occupied for years. It took everyone to figure how to sleep in the beds, but they got a good night's sleep. The next morning, they went to the café and had breakfast and Leo explained to them how to eat when their parents weren't around. Afterward, Lightning took Leo and Adam to the dirt track. Adam had a motorcycle that had the French, British and American flags patterned on it, and Leo's motorbike's paint job had a pattern similar to Lightning's paint job as a car. "Okay, like you told me, you both have trouble going around the corners of the dirt track, but lucky for you, I know a trick for that. If you push hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right," Lightning explained. "That doesn't make any sense," Adam stated. "That's what I thought when my teacher, Doc, told me," Lightning said. "Yes, thank you, or should I say no thank you, because in opposite world, that probably means thank you!" Leo exclaimed, revving the engine and driving off down the race track. "That's also what I said to Doc when he told me," Lightning added. "Crazy dude," Leo muttered. As he was coming up on the turn, he looked back to where Lightning and Adam were still standing. "Turn right to go left," he said. Then he did a sharp right and turned right into a nearby pond. Lightning and Adam rushed over and pulled the teen and his bike out of the water. "Turn right to go left. Guess what? I tried it, and you know what? This crazy thing happened. I went right!" Leo ranted maniacally. "Maybe it'd be better if I showed you," Lightning said. He got on Adam's motorcycle; he revved the engine and took off down the track. Adam and a wet Leo watched from the sidelines to see what would happen to their teacher. When Lightning got to the turn, he did the dirt trick and went around the corner. "He's as good as my dad was," Leo said, watching in awe. When Lightning got back to the starting line, Adam and Leo ran up to him asking "Were you a motorcycle racer?" "Um…no, I was a race car," Lightning stated casually. Adam and Leo thought he meant race car __driver, __so they rolled with it. "Now let's see if you can do it too."| In town, Fillmore was trying to teach Gavin how to make organic fuel, but he kept making small mistakes, such as too much of this or too little of that or it ended up on fire or nearly did. "Can you show me? I don't know what I'm doing," Gavin pleaded. "Alright," Fillmore said. He demonstrated to Gavin how to mix the organic ingredients more correctly. Meanwhile, Sarge was training Juan to go throw an obstacle course he set up with permission from Mr. Joenns. There were hurdles, climbing walls, and bars to grab. "This is your first course, right?" Sarge asked. "Yeah," Juan answered. "All you have to do is jump over the hurdles, climb over the wall, and swing through the bars," Sarge explained. "Sounds easy, just like gym class," Juan said. "That's what you think, but the course will be a lot harder than you think. I will be timing you on how fast you go, which I will tell your father," Sarge explained. "Your time starts…now!" Sarge shouted. Juan leapt over the hurdles barely touching them, jumped onto the climbing wall and climbing up it as fast as possible, then he grabbed onto the metal bars and swung from bar to bar with ease. When he got to the end, Sarge stopped the stopwatch and checked the teen's time. "1 minute and 50 seconds. Impressive," Sarge said. "Does this mean we're done?" Juan asked. "No, I need you to jog around that mesa 4 times, do 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups, and do the course again, to see if you got better or worse," Sarge stated. Juan felt ready to faint.| Flo and Kelly were in the café, giving the customers their food and drinks. Kelly struggled to keep holding the tray, but it was starting to shake in her hand. She knew she was going to drop the food on the floor. "Don't just your hand to hold the tray, use your lower arm," Flo advised the girl. Kelly did as she offered and to her surprise, the tray stopped vibrating and stayed still. She was glad she had Flo to teach her what to do.| Ramone was having Quinton practice his graffiti art on an old, rusty car that he found in the junkyard. Quinton did perfect ghost flames so far, but he was having trouble with the pinstripes Von Dutch style. "Just remember to put paper on the areas where there shouldn't be paint like the tires or bumpers," Ramone warned, pointing at the tires and bumper which had a few streaks of orange on them. "If I got paint on Iralanda's tires, she would beat my hide, man," Quinton stated. "Well, tires should either be black or have whitewalls," Ramone said. "No pink, no red, no ROY G BIV, no matter how cool that would be." The two of them laughed.| Guido had built a frame for Aneil to practice his tire changing on. "(Okay, Aneil, I need you to change these tires as fast as you can. Got it?)" Guido instructed. "Okay," Aneil said. He changed the tires on the frame as Guido timed him carefully. When the teen finished, Guido stated "(5 minutes.)" "That's not bad," Aneil said. "(Yes. But yellow flags only last for one lap, which would take 2 minutes, give or take. Let me show you my methods,)" Guido said. He took the stack of tires as Aneil took the timer. "GO!" Aneil shouted, starting the timer. Guido tossed the tires in the air like he did in the Piston Cup race and changed the tires very quickly, so quick he appeared to be a blur. When he finished, Aneil stopped the timer. His jaw dropped when he saw the time. "2.5 seconds!" he gasped. "(If you learn right, you could be as fast as me,)" Guido stated, grinning.| Luigi was showing Iralanda a few papers of instructions the crew chief gave racers and what they meant. "So, when there is a yellow flag, that means the car has a chance to pit," Iralanda said. "Yes, but that does not-a mean you can't pit the racer during the race. In case their tire blows or their gas is low," Luigi explained. "Just be careful; some racers tend to forget tires or choose to get some. Most of the time, they tend to blow before he finishes the race, and the axle gets a-damaged that way." "Ah, I see. Got it," Iralanda said.| Red was helping Christopher with the flowers and gave him some tips on how to keep them from wilting. At first, Christopher didn't trust him, but he eventually realized that Red was just as nervous as he was and that he reminded him of his father. And that was enough. Meanwhile, Lizzie was telling Amy about her stories about her and Stanley and their town, Radiator Springs. Surprisingly, Amy didn't get bored, and there some funny bits in the tales, mostly about the other residents moving into town from Doc Hudson to Lightning McQueen. She also taught Amy how to make bumper stickers and snow globes, which entertained the young girl.| Mater was teaching Travis how to do everything he knew, from finding UFOs, solve a mystery, wrestle, rock out, bull fight, and fly. Travis seemed to be having fun trying out all the cool stuff, and figured he'd need the skills for later in life, and Mater agreed.| Sally didn't exactly have anything to teach Kendra, so they just played a few games such as Go Fish, chess, checkers, backgammon, war, 21, and match. After a while, they both became extremely bored, so Sally decided to see how everyone else was doing. Leo and Adam were getting the hang of dirt racing, Gavin had made a perfect batch of organic fuel, Juan did better in the agility course, Kelly was brushing up on her waitress skills, Quinton had painted ghost flames, Aneil was getting faster in his tire changing skills, Iralanda had figured how to deal with difficult racers, Christopher had finished planting some more flowers, Amy had made a snow globe and a new bumper stick, and Mater had taught Travis how to bull fight. Sheriff and Yasin haven't found any crime, so Yasin wasn't learning much. Back at the café, Kendra convinced Sally to play M*A*S*H with her, with choices such as husband, home, city, job, # of kids, pet, and car. Sally chose Lightning, Francesco Bernoulli, the president and Marty for future husband, Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas and Sun Springs as cities, attorney, singer, dancer and actress as job, 1, 2, 3, and 4 for # of kids, cat, dog, parrot, and ferret as pet, and Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, and minivan as car. Then Kendra had her close her eyes so she makes tally marks to be the number. Afterward, Kendra went through the answers. "In the future, you'll live in a mansion in Sun Springs, working as an attorney, driving a Porsche, living with your pet dog, your 3 kids, and your husband, Lightning," Kendra stated. Sally blushed when she heard that she was set up with her boyfriend, but she wondered if she was right. Just then, everyone came to the café and Sally tore up the M*A*S*H paper to get rid of the evidence of the set up. "What were you playing?" Lightning asked. "M*A*S*H, want to try?" Kendra asked. "Sure." "Okay, pick 4 women you'd want to marry in the future," Kendra said. "Okay…Sally, of course, Carla Veloso, Misti Motorkrass, and…" Lightning stated. "J. Lo, do J. Lo, she's awesome," Adam said. "No! Pick Lindsey Lohan. She's starting to get hot again!" Aneil added. "Amanda Bynes!" Gavin shouted. "Hell no!" all the teens snapped. "I was just kidding. Pick Taylor Swift," Gavin defended. "No, Megan Fox, she's sexy," Quinton said. "Men are weird young," Kelly said. "Amen to that sister," Darrian muttered to the girl. "I think I'll go with J. Lo," Lightning concluded. "Yes!" Adam cheered. "Pick 4 cities." "L.A, Las Vegas, Sun Springs and New York City." "4 jobs." "Race car driver, president, entrepreneur, and actor." "# of kids." "1, 2, 3, and none." "4 types of pet." "Cat, dog, parrot, and monkey." "4 types of cars." "SUV, van, Porsche, and race car." After marking the tallies, Kendra came to a conclusion on Lightning's "future." "You will live in a house in Sun Springs, working as a race car driver, driving a SUV, living with your pet dog, 3 kids, and your wife, Sally!" Kendra announced. "Congratulations, McQueen!" Mater stated, sticking his hand out for a handshake. After that, Guido, Aneil, Iralanda, Fillmore, Gavin, Adam, Mater, and Travis tried out the game. Sally laughed when everyone got the futures were hoping for or not. Some cheered, like Mater who would get a house in Sun Springs, working in towing and salvage, driving a tow truck, married to Holley with their pet dog and 2 kids, some cried, like Aneil, who wouldn't be able to marry Brenda Song or get a job in a pit crew. Back in the Cars world, Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell were trying to figure out how to contact their friends; their communicators were out of range. "I don't understand, why haven't they gone on with the mission yet? Should we go in and help them?" Holley asked, worriedly. "There's probably heat on them. Or maybe these people don't trust them to leave yet," Finn suggested. "Yes, you're right, they'll signal us when they can, but still, the Black Lord could be half-way through his compromise with Axlerod by now," Holley warned. "Just give them a few days, Holley," Finn said. At the same time, Sir Axlerod found out his enemies were in the human world. "This can't be, how did the tow truck, and his friends find their way into the human world?" he asked Professor Zundapp. "Well, Sir Axlerod, it seems we have underestimated them. I would not be surprised if Finn McMissile had his own portal to the human world," Zundapp explained. "They're there to take down the Black Lord no doubt." "What's stopping them; they haven't changed position for a few days," Miles pointed out. "It seems the humans in Sun Springs appear to not trust them and are holding then hostage in the town. How about we take this opportunity to destroy their town?" Zundapp offered. "That would make me happier, send one of my squadrons to Radiator Springs to destroy as much of it as they can," Axlerod said. "Excellent, but let's warn our ally first about the problem. He will take care of them of them right away." _

_Chap. 10: The next morning, Lightning was on his way to the café and go to the race track to see this week's Saturday motorbike when he saw the Garwood's garage door open and found Trenton fiddling with a blue motorcycle. "Are you sure your father wouldn't mind you racing this weekend?" Lightning asked. "He would mind, but I'm just trying to figure out what caused my accident. When I was racing that day, Kelsey Hawkeye's bike rubbed against mine and in less than a few seconds, it popped! Before I could stop it, it flipped over and crushed my leg. It didn't shatter my leg, but it did shatter my pride and dignity. Even after my leg healed, my dad still won't let me race, and even if he did, my friends won't believe me that I can still race as good as I used to," Trenton explained. Lightning realized that there was a similarity with Trenton's story and Doc Hudson. "You know, I used to know this grumpy old race car driver who had a similar accident. When he got better, he went back expecting a big welcome, but they said he was history and went to the next rookie standing in line. He still had a lot left in him and he never got to show them. For years, he stayed hidden in a small town, which was clueless about his past, until I came. He had a grudge against race cars and wanted me to leave as soon as possible. He even called the reporters and told them where I was! Then, after I was gone, all my new friends, the other people with me, were upset to see me leave and he realized he did a bad thing. On my big race, I was pit crew-less and crew chief-less, so I had a chance of losing it all. I was out of the race for a while until I heard him on the headset! I looked at my pit and saw him along with all my friends as my pit crew! They had come to help me and cheer me on! After the race, I went back to that town and stayed there. He's not with us anymore, but his spirit is still there and it always will be," Lightning told the teen. "Too bad, I would have liked to meet him. He sounds like a great guy," Trenton said. "Maybe one day I'll get back on the track to do another race." Trenton glanced down at the popped wheel and his eyes widened. "It's torn!" he exclaimed. "What is?" Lightning had to know. "The tire! Part of the rubber looks like it got torn open, not popped. Only a blade could do that," Trenton explained. "Didn't you say Kelsey Hawkeye rubbed you before it popped?" Lightning asked. "Yeah…" "Adam told me Kelsey is known to cheat so…" "Hawkeye cheated!" both guys concluded. "We have to warn the others, no doubt, she got rid of me because I always won the races, but now since Dylan Barnes wins them, he'll be her next targets!" Trenton said. "We have to get to the track and warn everyone!" Lightning stated. "We'll use my spare motorbike, it has a side car!" Trenton said pulling a gray tarp off an unidentified object revealing a motorbike. At the dirt track, all the cars-people were standing on a ledge over-looking the race. "I hope all of Leo and Adam's training will pay off and one of them will win. Then Sun Springs will make-a its way back to the top of the racing charts again. Leo told you guys that this town and Star City used to be one of the top racing cities in the U.S, no," Iralanda said. "He may have mentioned it," Luigi lied. "I wonder what tricks Kelsey has up her sleeves this time," Kelly sneered. "Who is she, exactly? You never went into detail," Sally asked. "She's a racer that cheats at least once to attempt to win. There's a rumor that her father is the Black Lord," Sara stated coldly. When all the racers got in their starting positions, Iralanda ran down to start the race. "Everyone, on your marks, get set, uno for the money, dos for the show, tre to get ready, and cuatro for the-!" she started to chant when everyone heard Trenton holler "STOP!" He rode onto the track with Lightning sitting in the side car. "Trenton, did you finally talk your dad into letting you race again?" a girl named Samira asked. "No, something's going to go wrong and I have to prevent it!" Trenton stated. "Since when are you psychic?" a chubby girl with long brown hair, bad teeth, and fat cheeks sneered. "Because, Kelsey, you were going to cheat to win. The same way you did with me, but to Dylan," Trenton snarled. Everyone gasped. Kelsey huffed and drove off. "She's getting away!" Amy shouted. "Stop! Stop in the name of the law!" Yasin shouted jumping onto the track to try to get the girl to stop. When she ignored him, he snapped. "Oh who am I kidding, she won't stop anyway!" "She's going around the track!" Aneil stated. "Let's go after her, I know what's going to happen to her," Trenton said, going after her. Kelsey got to the turn Leo and Adam had trouble going around before and attempted to make it, but she didn't know how and she ended up skidding into the dirt! Kelsey flew off her bike and landed in a bunch of brush where Trenton hopped off his motorbike and grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the others. He revealed small blades on the rims and hubcaps of the motorcycle and explained how it caused it him to spin out. After he finished, Kelsey broke free of his grip and rode her bike off out of the desert. "And don't even think off coming back bee-atch!" Adam shouted. "Well, Trenton, you proved to us that you can still race," Dylan, a tall kid with dark brown hair said. "Do you want back in?" Just then, Lightning got out of the sidecar and Aneil disconnected it from the motorcycle. Trenton grinned and revved the engine loudly. Everyone cheered and got ready for the race again. "Wow, if Lightning can talk Trenton into joining in on the races again, I wonder if he can convert the Condrey Gang," Kendra said._

_Chap. 11: "Who is the Condrey Gang?" Lightning asked. "They're this small group of kids that like to wreak havoc in town. There's Jasmine, the oldest, Kassie, the second oldest, Darren, the third oldest, and Milly, the youngest. They always pick on us, mostly Yasin, Gavin, Iralanda, Christopher, Amy, Leo and me," Kendra explained. "I think Dr. Garwood warned us about them," Sally said. "I'm not surprised, they always endanger other teens." "And they are also related. They're quadruplets," Travis added. "(Haven't you even tried to deal with them?)" Guido asked. "Yeah, but they're tougher than us, so tough, Juan's oldest sister, Darrian won't deal with them!" Aneil stated. "Just like the Tuner Gang, eh Sheriff," Ramone said to the cop. "Maybe too much like the Tuner Gang," Sheriff said. For two days, nobody has seen any sign of the Condrey Gang and thought none of them would show until one afternoon. Everyone was outside the café, finishing up their lunch and discussing lessons, when there was the sound of motorcycles on approach. Juan climbed up a nearby tree with a telescope and looked to see who it was. "C-O-N-D-R-E-Y! C-O-N-D-R-E-Y!" Juan spelled out immediately. "The teens jumped out of their seats and tried to cross the street, but before anyone knew it, four motorcycles started to go around them so fast they only saw blurs purple, black, blue, green, lavender, and orange. When the motorcycles stopped, it was revealed that the drivers were some teens with tricked out motorbikes. One was a tall girl with black hair in short dreadlocks, brown skin, dark brown eyes and wearing a purple and black hoodie, blue jeans and purple high-top sneakers with a purple and black motorbike. The second was another girl with dark brown hair in long, thin braids, light brown skin, brown eyes, a light green hoodie with a flame pattern similar to Wingo's, jeans, and light green sneakers with a motorbike with a paint job like Wingo's. The third kid was a boy with short black hair, brown skin, dark brown eyes, a blue hoodie, jeans, and blue Reebok sneakers and a blue motorcycle. The last one was another girl who was short with black hair pulled in four thick braids, brown skin, brown eyes, an orange t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and orange sandals with an orange motorcycle with a supercharger. "Well, I haven't seen you dorks ever since the school blew up," the tall girl sneered. "Yeah, we know Jasmine," Juan grumbled. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be dead or something?" the second girl asked Luigi very rudely. "That's Luigi, not my dad, Kassie," Iralanda stated. "Oh, so is he his brother or cousin or something, because he looks like him," the boy remarked. "They're not related, Darren, now step off!" Yasin shouted. "OH! Did you just tell me to step off, because if you did I will whoop you like last time," Darren threatened. "You wouldn't," Kelly said. "Trust me, Kelly, don't tick him off. Best heed his warning," the last girl warned not at all meanly. "Thanks for the tip, Milly," Leo said. "If you cause any trouble, I'll…I'll…" Aneil said. "Do nothing, as always. Not so tough without your big bro here to protect you aren't you," Jasmine said. "Gan left? I didn't know that," Milly admitted. "He in college or something, like Kelly's sisters?" "No, he allegedly left," Aneil stated. "Milly is sort of not that bad, she's just sort of dragged along by her sisters and brothers," Trenton muttered to Lightning. "You are all pathetic," Kassie insulted. "Stop being mean!" Amy shouted. "Or what? Christopher will go crying to his mommy…wait, where's your mama, Chrissie, is she dead. Well, you'll be okay as long as you got your dad…Oh how could I be so clueless? He's dead too! You got no one!" Jasmine said. She, Kassie and Darren laughed. Milly just rolled her eyes. Lightning got angrier the more the Condrey Gang bullied the teens; he also noticed that Christopher was starting to cry. "Hey, didn't anyone tell you it's bad to bully. My dad told me that," Gavin stated. "Did he also tell you he was dead?" Kassie asked. Gavin gasped in horror. "In fact, I think Iralanda, Leo, Kendra, and Amy's dads got murdered too." "And Yasin and Amy's moms," Darren added. The teens whose dead parents were mentioned looked at the ground; Amy's crutches also started to shake. "Oh please, if you make fun of us for missing parents, them where's your dad, T.J. Condrey?" Juan asked. Darren glared at the boy and swaggered over to him. "What did you say?" he questioned. "Where is your dad, Darren, did you lose him too?" Juan asked. Darren scowled at him before grabbing him by the collar of his t-shirt and lifting him off the ground. "Ask me that again and see what happens!" he threatened. "Darren, put him down! You promised!" Milly demanded. "Stay out of this, Milly!" Darren snapped. "That's it; I've had enough of this. It's about time somebody taught you four how to respect others!" Lightning snapped, getting up from his seat and grabbed Darren by the hood of his hoodie, making him drop Juan. Then he grabbed Jasmine and Kassie's hoods and dragged them toward the courthouse with Milly following close behind. "Why'd I wear a hoodie?" Jasmine said, trying to keep her hoodie from choking her. Lightning dragged them behind the building where he released them. "Okay, something has happened in your lives and it seems to involve your father, T.J. Condrey. What happened?" Lightning questioned. "None of your business!" Kassie snarled. "It is now. Tell me why you bully kids and mostly pick on them about their perished parents," Lightning demanded to know. "You really want to know? Fine, I'll tell you!" Jasmine gave in. "Our dad T.J., he was a gangsta dude until he met our mama. He was a good guy for years until we were 6. Then, the Black Lord made him work for gangs again, but as a gangster, not a gangsta. That went on for a few years, until the Black Lord must've thought T.J. knew too much, so he told the cops about him and the fuzz went after him one night. They chased him to the edge of a canyon and he just stood there until they fired at will. His body fell down the canyon. If the bullets didn't kill him, the fall did. So, in a sense, we lost our dad to the Black Lord, and we've been upset ever since. We pick on those to let off steam and it works most of the time." "You don't have to pick on kids to feel better after your father died. I mean, I don't think he'd want his kids to bully others," Lightning said. "Told you!" Milly snapped. "You didn't want to bully?" Lightning asked the girl. "Yeah, I sort of play the good cop in situations like these." "One day, you'll see the world differently and see that you use kindness and compassion to get ahead in life. Not violence. Not hate," Lightning said. "You do have a point…" Darren admitted. "You better clean up your act by apologizing to those kids," Lightning said. "Are you sure they'll forgive us? We've picked on them ever since we were all 12, Sara was 11, and Christopher and Amy were 10," Kassie stated. "They're good kids, I'm sure they'll forgive you…I think," Lightning said. "Did anyone tell you how reassuring you are, because you are very reassuring," Milly said. "Okay, cut the sarcasm, and let's get back to the others." Lightning said. The 5 of them went back into Sun Springs." "I see you brought them all back in one piece. Did you just scold the daylights out of them?" Sally asked. "Yep, and they have something to say," Lightning said. "We're sorry," the Condrey Gang said in unison. "Sorry?" Leo said, confused by the bullies' sudden politeness. "We're sorry for picking on you guys about your families. We only did that because we lost our dad, too. To the Black Lord too," Jasmine explained. "I didn't know that, I heard rumors but I didn't know they were true," Juan said. "Yeah, and we're sorry. We understand if you don't forgive us and we'll leave and never come back if you don't," Darren said. The teens left the area and discussed what they heard and came back a few minutes later. "Well, since you apologized and have been honest with us, I guess we can," Trenton said. "YAY!" Milly exclaimed. "Thanks Trent," Darren said. "But don't call me Trent," Trenton said. "So, now since we're friends, what do we do?" Travis asked. "Play a game?" Adam suggested. "I got enough wood to build a basketball hoop, then we can play hoops," Aneil said. "You can do that?" Kassie asked. "I was the best in the Tech. Ed class, of course I can." After the teens went with Aneil to get the wood and tools. "Well, what do you know," Flo said happily. "Hey, if Lightning can change the Condrey Gang, then maybe he could-," Mater started to say until Sheriff interrupted saying. "Nobody can change the Tuner Gang." Just then, Mr. Mohamet came over. "Why is the Condrey Gang hanging out with the kids?" he questioned. "I converted them, apparently they were being mean to get over their father's death," Lightning explained. "T.J. Condrey is dead? I didn't know that, well, you did do something good, so I'll let this slide. Maybe keeping you here wasn't a mistake after all," the cop said, leaving. "A mistake?" Sally said, "What do you think he meant?" "Maybe nobody trusted us as much before, but I think they will now," Lightning guessed. _

_Chap. 12: It didn't take long for all the parents to hear what Lightning did, and they were all impressed, including Dr. Garwood. Well, everyone except for Mr. Jago. He blamed his wife and son for helping Guido and for what happened to his eldest son, Gan; two years ago, Gan Jago ran away from home and ever since then, Mr. Jago and Mrs. Jago argue at least once a week at night. Sometimes Aneil got involved. The arguments got so loud, the Camilos, the Joenns, the Buckminsters and Shens heard it. That day would be one of those days. After the Condrey Gang went home, everyone head to be. "Well, today was a great day," Sally said inside the cars-people's apartment. "Yeah, I'm glad something worked out over the week, now if we could solve the problem with the Black Lord," Lightning said. Then, the once-race car noticed something. "Hey, what's up with Guido?" He noticed the Italian had tensed and was looking at the window. "What is it?" Luigi asked his friend. Sally looked out the window to see the Jagos' house lights still on. She opened the window to hear arguing. "Is that the Jagos'?" Mater asked. "Sounds like it," Sally said. Just then, Darrian, Anna, Sela and Cydney Joenns, and Iralanda ran into the building. "Oh I forgot-a you were here," Iralanda said. "Is that from the Jagos?" Sally asked. "Yeah, they argue at least once a week for no good reason. I think this one is about you guys, though," Sela said. "Couldn't Juan, Gavin and Quinton hear that?" Flo asked. "Yeah, but they're brave, they can take it," Cydney said. Just then, Juan, Gavin and Quinton ran in. "Or not," Darrian said. "We came because we saw the girls run in here and wanted to make sure they were okay," Quinton lied. "Yep, I care about my sisters that much," Juan added. "And I think of his sisters as mine," Gavin threw in. "No you don't," Juan sneered. "I wonder who will get hit this time." Anna wondered. "Wait, someone always gets hit in these fights?" Sally asked "Either Aneil or Mrs. Jago," Anna explained. "(What do you mean by hit?)" Guido asked. Before anyone could answer, Aneil entered the building. "Hey guys, how are you doing?" he asked casually. "What happened to your forehead?" Iralanda asked him. Aneil had a bandana tied around his forehead. "It's called fashion," Aneil said. Sela pulled the bandana off his head, revealing a bloody gash on the side of his forehead. "That's what I mean by hit," Anna said. "Did your father do that?" Sally asked. "Yeah, he always does that. He hits my mother too," Aneil admitted. "It's not a big deal." "Yes it is! No parent should hit their children, not even if they deserve it," Flo snapped. "I'll get Dr. Garwood to give you something for that," Sally said, leading the teen out of the building. After she got him to Dr. Garwood, she went around Sun Springs and asked if anyone knew about it. Surprisingly, they did! One time, Mr. Mohamet tried to put it to a stop, but Mr. Jago knew judo. After that, nobody had the wits to confront the man, not even Mr. Joenns. Guido wanted to confront the man and make him pay for hurting Aneil, but his friends told him it would most likely end up with him with worse injuries than Aneil. That night, the teens that ran into the apartment spent the night in the lobby of the apartment to get past another night of rage._

_Chap. 13: The next day, the sixth day in Sun Springs, a strange thing happened. All the cars-people and teens, including the Condrey Gang, decided to head down to the dirt track early that morning to watch Leo, Adam and now Trenton practice for next Saturday's race. The Condrey Gang wanted to try out the track too, because they wanted to race too. When they got there, they saw that a man nobody recognized immediately sitting on a red motorcycle on the starting line. "Who's he?" Lightning asked. "I don't know, but he looks like you in the face, and has dirty blonde hair like Leo," Adam stated. "There's a name plastered on the back of his jacket," Trenton muttered, squinting at the man. "It says…Luke McKay." "My dad?" Leo asked. Then, the motorcycle's engine revved and the motorbike racer took off down the track very fast. Everyone watched in awe as the motorist drove through the dirt, causing dust to kick up. He went around the corners with ease and when he got to the starting line again, the dust engulfed him, and when it cleared, he was gone. "What. Was. That?" Jasmine asked, freaked out by what she just witnessed. "I think it was a ghost of my father," Leo said. "Well, that was weird, and then again, I've seen a UFO before," Mater stated. "Really!" Travis exclaimed. "NO!" Juan snapped. "Didn't we see a ghost that claimed to be Mario Camilo?" Fillmore asked. "You saw my Papa!" Iralanda gasped. "We think we did, for all we knew, we could have still been suffering from the heat," Sheriff said. "Where did you see this ghost?" Aneil asked. "In the courthouse," Sally answered. "Let's go check it out!" Gavin stated. "What about racing practice?" Adam asked. "That can wait, Adam!" At the courthouse, everyone made a plan to find Mr. Camilo. "Where did you see him?" Kendra asked. "On the second floor on our way to the courtroom," Sally stated. "He seemed surprised that Luigi looked a lot like him." "Okay, so Luigi will go first into each hallway," Travis suggested. "Fine, but if-a he possesses me, I will-a smack you all," Luigi warned. Luigi very hesitantly lead the group up to the second floor. Iralanda walked next him, wanting to catch a glimpse of her father first. When they finally got there, there was no sign of the man. "Maybe he changed floors," Fillmore said. "Maybe you're all crazy," Kassie said. "I have an idea," Travis said, closing all the curtains and turning out all the lights. "I saw this in a movie once." He stood in front of a mirror with a long glare. Then chanted "Mario Camilo, Mario Camilo, Mario Camilo!" For a few moments, the mirror fogged up, then it cleared immediately at the same time as a man who looked like Guido but with brown hair, wearing a darker shade of blue and was hatless stuck his head out of the mirror saying, "That won't work!" making Travis scream with fear and fall backward. "HA! Classic!" Thomas Gale laughed. "Dad!" Kendra snapped. "What? Was he a friend of yours?" Mr. Gale asked. Kendra shook her head and laughed. "Sure, go ahead and laugh at me. I nearly lost two years of my life," Travis said sarcastically, standing up again. "Not the most dignified twit is he?" a voice said. Luigi turned around to see Mario Camilo standing no more than 2 feet away. "Ciao," the man greeted. Luigi fainted instantly. "Does he always do that?" he asked. "(Only when he's really frightened,)" Guido stated. "(Like, I don't know, a certain redneck as you call them, jumps out from behind a wall of tires howling.)" "I think he's talking about you, Mater," Iralanda said. "Shoot, you fainted too!" Mater protested. "And you fainted from just holding your breath for 5 seconds," Lightning added. Guido was about to say something when he felt someone grab his shoulders from behind, scaring him so badly, he screamed and jumped so high he managed to grab onto a hanging light. "Whoa, I only see quails jump that high," said a man_ with blonde hair, wearing a long-sleeved, white tunic, a burlap vest, blue jeans, and flip-flops. "Dad!" Gavin gasped. "Get me out of here!" Juan pleaded. "Stay cool, dude, I'm no poltergeist…I think," Ryan Buckminster insisted. "I'm not scared that you're a ghost," Juan snarled. "Oh! You're Jackson's kid! Exactly how I thought you'd turn out: a military brat," Mr. Buckminster stated. "That's what I thought!" Gavin agreed. "(Excellent, another ghost. Can I go?)" Guido asked. "…Are you Russian?" Ryan asked. "(No, I'm Italian!)" Guido snapped, now hanging upside down on the light. "Guido, you look like and angry bat when you flail our arms and hang upside down like that," Aneil stated. "A bat that's frustrated because it's feet is stuck on a ceiling that just got painted," Juan added. "Don't ask me how I know that." "Poor little bat," Gavin sighed. "It was so young when your father SHOT IT!" "It could have hurt me and my sisters mind you!" Juan argued. "Not if it was stuck to the ceiling!" "What if it got free?" "It'll try to get out through a window!" "No it wouldn't!" "I'm guessing 'like father, like son' applies to these two?" Mr. Camilo said. "Yeah, big time," Jasmine stated. "(Can somebody get me down?)" Guido asked. Adam picked up a paperweight sitting on a table and threw it at the light, knocking the Italian loose and causing him to fall and land on his back. "(OW...grazie,)" he muttered. "Why are you here?" Gavin asked Mr. Gale and his dad. "I normally hang out in places where there are mirrors. I show up when I want to or when some says my name three times in front of a mirror," Mr. Gale explained. "I show up wherever I please, except in Jackson's house, darn shame. I wanted to scare him so much," Mr. Buckminster said. "I could lure him over here," Gavin suggested. "No you won't!" Juan snapped. "Who's this guy? A friend of Jackson's," Ryan pointed at Sarge. "No, he's just stopping by. Supposedly he and his friends are going to kill the Black Lord," Adam explained. "WHAT!" Ryan, Mario and Thomas shrieked. "Are you crazy? Nobody can fight the Black Lord, nor would anyone in their right mind would do it," Mario warned. "In case you didn't know, he shot me to death!" Mr. Buckminster stated. "He shot me as well," Mario added. "And one of his henchmen threw me into a mirror," Mr. Gale said. "Well he got you by surprise, this time we'll take him by surprise," Lightning stated. "Is that your whole plan?" Mr. Camilo asked. "Unfortunately yes," Lightning sighed. "It's a wonder he didn't kill you already," Mario said, rubbing his forehead. "Do you know where we can find the ghost of Mr. and Mrs. Betts, Mr. and Mrs. Upton, and Mrs. Mohamet?" asked Yasin. "Yasmine is behind the building, and Savannah, Scott, Richard, and Katelyn are in the garden," Mr. Gale said. "We'll go see them right now," Amy said, hobbling out of the room. "Thanks for the help, Papa," Iralanda said. "Good luck on your mission. Don't forget your friend," Mario said, pointing at the still unconscious Luigi. Guido and Mater dragged him out of the room while Ryan and Mario disappeared into thin air in the snap of a finger and Thomas stepped back into the mirror and vanished. A few minutes later, Luigi became conscious and asked what happened. "Well, my dad scared Guido so badly he jumped and clung to a light," Gavin stated. "Now we're going to see Mrs. Mohamet," Leo stated. The group of friends went behind the courthouse, trying to find Yasmine. "Maybe she moved," Kassie suggested. "Mom! Are you here?" Yasin asked. Then, as if by those words, a woman that had a striking resemblance to Flo, but wearing a police uniform, walked out from the brush. "Yasin?" she said. "Oh, she is still here," Gavin said. "Hi mom, it is good to see you as a ghost," Yasin stated. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?" Mrs. Mohamet asked. "Yeah, because I can see you again," Yasin said. "Well, how are you? I heard about the school blowing up. Did they catch the bozo that did that?" Yasmine asked her son. "Who are you calling a bozo?" Gavin asked, clearly offended. "Okay, you're the last person I expected to do that. I thought a crazy janitor or those four to do it," Mrs. Mohamet said. She said 'those four' while pointing at the Condrey Gang. "That was you?" Milly asked, shocked. "Accident!" Gavin shouted. "Well, we're going to see the Uptons and Betts in the garden, I'll see you another time," Yasin said. As the teens and cars-people left, Mrs. Mohamet disappeared into thin air. On the way, Quinton noticed something about Yasin. "Dude, are you crying?" he asked. "No, "I'm happy! My mother is a ghost! I'm glad she's okay!" Yasin denied instantly. "Wow, de ja vu," Lightning said. "What do you mean?" Leo asked. "I'll explain later." At the garden, everyone immediately saw two couples sitting on the benches. "My son grows the most beautiful flowers," said a woman with long wavy hair that was colored light brown. "Yeah, but Amy could plant even better flowers," said a woman that looked like Sally but with blonde hair and wore black and white. "Oh please, she couldn't tell the difference between a dandelion and a buttercup," said a man that resembled Red but with brown hair and a blue shirt. "Hi Mom, hi Dad," Amy greeted her parents. "Amy, tell me, what's the difference between a dandelion and a buttercup?" asked a man with light blonde hair and a metal leg. "Um…I don't know," Amy said. Richard Upton pointed his hand at her and looked at Scott Betts as if saying "See what I mean?" "How's my little boy?" Katelyn Upton asked her son. "Okay?" Christopher nodded, but said nothing. "Still mute I see," she said. "He's been mute for 9 years now," Juan stated. "He'll talk when he needs and has to," Amy said. "Like if he'll ever see President Obama?" Travis asked. "Or the Queen?" Kendra added. "Or the Pope," Iralanda threw in. "Or Oprah!" Adam cheered. "Oprah?" Gavin said. "Who wouldn't talk to Oprah?" Adam explained. "Good point, I mean, Obama, the Queen, and the Pope might understand that he can't and won't talk," Trenton said. "Yeah, if you see Oprah, you just got to say something to her," Milly said. "I'm guessing Oprah is really popular here?" Sally said. "You're saying that you've never heard of Oprah," Adam said. "That's because I haven't," Sally admitted. The teens all gasped. "I've never seen her shows or read her magazine, but even I know who she is!" Jasmine exclaimed. "Moving the subject away from Oprah," Mr. Upton said. "I think you should go to the mesa over there at sunset." "At the mesa, why? We've found everyone," Leo said. "Not everyone, Leonardo," Mr. Betts said. As everyone left the garden, Christopher whipped out a small pad of paper from his pocket and wrote something on it, and then he showed it to Leo. "Leonardo?" it read. "Shut up, Christopher," Leo mumbled. "Dude, he shut 9 years ago, get with it," Adam joked. At sunset, everyone went down to the mesa Richard pointed at earlier and saw a man sitting at the edge of the mesa. He had brown skin, short black hair, and was wearing a Redskins jersey, blue jeans, and red sneakers. "Hey, our dad had a jersey like that," Darren said. "He kind of looks like dad too," Kassie stated. Then, the Condrey Gang looked at each other for a few seconds before scrambling to the top of the mesa. When they got there, they realized that it was T.J. Condrey sitting on the mesa. "Dad?" Jasmine asked. "Yeah, Jasmine?" he responded. "What happened to you? The cops went after you one night," Milly asked. "Well, you were right, I did work for the Black Lord, but he didn't kill me because I knew too much, it was because I quit. Biggest mistake I made yet, but if he didn't kill me, he would have sent people to get you and your mother, so I let him call the cops and tell them my location, another problem. You were right about me getting shot and falling down a canyon, too," T.J. explained. "Well lucky for you, those guys down there are on a mission to take the Black Lord down for good. They'll avenge you," Darren stated. "Are you sure? Nobody can kill the Black Lord," Mr. Condrey said. "Well, we have faith in them and we believe they can," Kassie said. "In that case, if they ever catch him and he's still alive a little, be sure that each of you gives him a good, hard whack upside the head from me," T.J. said. "We will," Jasmine promised. Then the man smiled before disappearing into thin air. The four teens climbed down from the mesa and rejoined their friends. "He said if you guys catch the Black Lord, we get to whack him on the side of the head," Kassie said. "So he believes in us?" Lightning asked. "Not exactly, but he hopes you'll do it," Milly explained. "Well, it's getting late, we better head home," Sally said. "I can't wait to tell my parents I went ghost hunting," Travis stated. "They probably won't believe me, but they'll be entertained." After dinner, everyone went to bed, but little did they know, Axlerod and the Black Lord were planning something. "So, my new enemies think they can defeat me, well they got another thing coming; I have a plan to kidnap those teens they've been babysitting for a week and hold them all hostage at my hideout. I will tell them that if they don't come and surrender, I'll kill them. When they get here, as expected and surrender, I will kill the teens right in front of them and them kill those cars!" the Black Lord told Sir Axlerod. "Excellent scheme, but how do you know they'll fall for it?" the 1978 Bradford car asked. "Because, Yasmine Mohamet fell for it, and if they're just as gullible as she is, it will work." "I see, some of those teens are the children of some people you have killed or caused to die in the past, you know," Miles said. "I know, I'll even get that Trillo kid, the Marcov kid and those Condrey kids to make it more problems some," the Black Lord added. "Good luck, I hope you shoot that tow truck like a wire fence."

Chap. 13: The next morning, everyone woke up and went to the café in a good mood; this was their last day in Sun Springs and after that, they would leave and find the Black Lord. But for some reason, Lightning got a feeling that something wasn't right. His suspicions were confirmed when he entered the café to see all the parents of the teens acting upset. He also noticed that the teens were nowhere in sight ad that Harold Trillo's parents were there as well. "What's going on? Where are the kids?" Lightning asked. Mrs. Joenns crumpled up a piece of paper she was holding and threw it at Lightning who ducked, letting the projectile hit Guido. "This is all your fault!" she shouted. "What is our fault?" Mater asked, jumped by the woman's yells as Sarge picked up the paper ball and flattened it out so it'd be easier to read. He read it aloud so the others could hear. "Dear Adults of Sun Springs, I have kidnapped your children and are currently holding them hostage at my hideout. I'll guarantee their safety if you hand over your guest, Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, Sally Carrera, Luigi, Guido, Sarge, Fillmore, Ramone, Flo, Red, Sheriff, and Lizzie. You have until midnight to make your decision and send them over to my hideout in the tallest building in the abandoned district or you'll never see your children again, signed, the Black Lord." "See! I knew it was a mistake to keep them here! Let's send them over to him right away so I can see my son in one piece," Mr. Jago said. "(Says the man who hits his son,)" Guido muttered. "Listen, we didn't know this would happen. We didn't even think that he would even know we were here," Lightning said. "How'd he even know?" Sally asked. "Maybe Axlerod found out and warned him before, for all we know, he could have found out when we first got here!" Lightning suggested. "So, what is your plan to stop the Black Lord? You've had a whole week to plan it," Mr. Joenns said. "Which was also a week wasted," Lightning said, reflecting on what he did during the week. He didn't realize that he had plenty of time to come up with plan during the week, but he had so much fun with the teens he forgot. "Please tell me one of you guys somehow came up with a plan during the week," he pleaded to his friends. He was hoping Sheriff or Sarge would say something about a plan but they didn't say anything telling him it just dawned on them too that they could have had a plan during the week. "We're doomed. The Black Lord will kill our children and these idiots don't have a plan on how to stop him," Mr. Shen said. "Maybe they don't have a plan, but I do," said a familiar voice. The cars-people turned around to see a man wearing a blue-gray suit and had dark gray, slicked back hair. The other was a woman with long, wavy purple hair pulled back into a ponytail wearing a dark purple shirt, a purple blazer and skirt, and violet heels. "Holley! Finn!" Mater exclaimed. "Everybody, this is Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell, they sent us on the mission to get the Black Lord." "Well they are fools to do so, because now the Black Lord kidnapped our children and is threatening to kill them," Mrs. Watson said. "I know, and I have a plan to get them back safely," Finn stated. "Tell us how," Mr. Joenns demanded, thinking they wouldn't answer. "We'll go over to the hideout and sneak inside. We'll knock out all of the Black Lord's henchmen in the process and find out where the kids are being kept. We'll set them free and send them all home as soon as we can. Then we go to the Black Lord's location and surround him, all armed. Most likely, he'll be weaponless and he might surrender immediately. The worst he could is using his fists to fight and attack us," Finn explained. "And if he does have a gun?" Mr. Mohamet asked. "If he has a gun, we might have to try to shoot him first and hopefully just subdue him; we need him alive in order to complete our mission. Then we'll call you and let you know we got him and we'll leave with him back to our home." "What about Lizzie? She's in no shape to fight," Lydia said. "Then perhaps you can keep her here until we call and you can bring her over so we can take her home," Finn added. "Sounds like a plan to me," Mr. Mitchem said. "Yeah, that might work. I knew a man who could do something similar to that named Jim Bane…actually you also kind of look like him," Mr. Mohamet said. "And that woman you call Holley looks like Katelyn Upton," Mrs. McKay added. "Probably just a coincidence," Finn said quickly. "Now, do any of you know where the hideout is?" "It is in the old, abandoned part of Star City, it used to have racing courses of all kinds nearby and also the headquarters of famous racers, one of them being Luke McKay before he found this old town in the 90s," Lydia stated. "It's the tallest building in the area." "Let's go, we already set up a tent full of weapons and tools you might need," Finn said. "Weapons? We're going to shoot people? Kill people?" Fillmore asked, worriedly. "We may have to," Finn explained. "Yeah, so, so long hippie," Mr. Joenns said. "I'm starting to figure out where Juan got his personality from," Lightning muttered. "Let's go!" Mater shouted. The cars-people left the café and ran as fast as they could to the C.H.R.O.M.E Agency tent, which was only 20 feet away from Sun Springs. They entered to see a bunch of guns and gadgets lining the walls. Lightning was amazed that so much stuff was able to fit into one tent. At the sight of so much artillery, everyone nearly fainted from surprise. "How do we know which one to choose?" Sally asked, not quite sure. "I mean, we don't have time to try them all out, and the only people here with experience other than you two are Mater, Sheriff and Sarge." "Guns are not that hard to use, you just grab one and pull the trigger," Holley explained. "So they are very easy to use, well the hand-held guns are, the machine guns and rifles are a little trickier." "Thanks for the tip." "So, which guns are which? I always confuse rifles and shot guns," Ramone asked. After an hour long explanation of what guns are which and how are each used, everyone was choosing. "I call shot gun, literally," Ramone stated, picking up a shot gun. "Good one, Ramone, both the gun choice and joke," Mater laughed. "Too bad that's the only weapon joke." Guido has seen people in mafia movies like "_The Dodgefather_" movies, but he has never actually used one. He found a very simple-looking handgun that was silver and black. He picked it up and looked at it. "If you're planning on using that gun, you'd better use both hands to hold onto it when you shoot," Holley advised when she saw him. "(Why?)" Guido asked. "If you only use one hand to shoot it, the recoil with break you shoulder and it could affect your forklift form," Holley explained. Guido's eyes widened and looked at the gun in awe. He grabbed its holster and stuck it on his belt. Better than nothing. "Aren't there any guns that won't like, kill someone?" Fillmore asked. "There aren't any, Fillmore," Sarge told the hippie. "Then I'm outta here!" Fillmore was about to run out of the tent for his life. Sarge stopped him before he got too far. "Do you want those kids to die?" he asked. "No way, man," Fillmore said. "Well, if we want to bring them back alive, this is the only way," Sarge stated, before going to another table of guns. Fillmore sighed, thinking to himself "What can I do?" "We have dart guns," Holley suggested. "Dart guns, as in poison darts? They can still kill a guy," Fillmore asked. "And knock-out darts. They won't kill the enemy, they'll just knock him unconscious," Holley explained, handing him a small gray one. Fillmore looked at it for a few seconds before saying "Alright." He stuck the gun in his pocket and walked away. "Fillmore was the last one, I think everyone chose a weapon," Holley said to Finn. "Is everyone ready?" Finn asked. "Ready!" Mater exclaimed, holding up a Gatling gun he chose. "Mater, I think we were supposed to choose a light weapon," Lightning said. "This is light," Mater said. "Really let me see that." Mater handed the Gatling gun to Lightning who immediately fell to the floor with a thud. "This is light!" Lightning gasped at the pain of the big gun crushing his hands and arms. "Yessiree!" Mater exclaimed, picking the gun up so Lightning could stand up. "We better get to the abandoned district as soon as we can, it's almost noon," Finn said. "We still have 12 hours, that's still a lot of time to find the Black Lord," Lightning said. "True, but there are a lot of tall building in the district, it could be awhile until we find him," Finn warned. "A long while."

Chap. 14: The cars-people went to Star City by bus and got to the abandoned district as fast as they could. They had 6 hours left until the Black Lord would kill the teens. Holley searched the tall buildings for any activity, and so far, none. "How do we know which one is the Black Lord's?" Sheriff asked. "I looked into the deaths of the people who got murdered by him and I noticed that they all got attacked during the night, and there's still daylight out," Holley pointed at the sun that was just starting to set. "Have we checked this building?" Lightning asked. "Which one?" Holley noticed that the once-race car was pointing at a small warehouse with the lights on inside. "It's not a tall building though," Luigi said. "Yes it is," Lightning pointed at the sign above the door that was worn away; it still looked like it said "Library". Holley tried very hard to keep from laughing. "What? How is it the tallest building?" Luigi asked, not getting it. "(It has the most stories,)" Guido explained, as Sarge slapped his hand over his eyes in annoyance and Fillmore softly chuckled. "He probably did that to throw us off," Finn advised, "Be careful, he might have guards nearby." "I doubt it. He probably thinks we fell for that joke and doubted that we'd show up," Sally said. "Makes sense," Lightning agreed. The group of heroes crowded around the windows very quietly and peered in between the boards of wood that covered the windows. Inside, they could see the teens sitting in a cell, dozens of gangsters walking around the premises and the Black Lord standing in front of a hologram machine that showed Sir Miles Axlerod and Professor Zundapp. "All is going according to plan; at midnight I will kill the teens just before those agents find me. My little jest may have confused them," the Black Lord said. "And what jest was this?" Axlerod asked. "I told them I was in the tallest building in Star City," the Black Lord stated. "I don't get it," Axlerod admitted. "The tallest building in the city is the library because it has the most stories!" Travis hollered. "How clever, I wonder what building they're searching now," Zundapp said. "I hope the old #12 apartment building, that place is known for its weak floorboards, which are liable to break," the Black Lord stated. "On three, we'll bust in, one, two," Sarge whispered when he heard a snap and someone say "Oops." The veteran turned to his left to see Fillmore and Guido holding a board from the window; they were leaning on it too hard, causing it to break off. Fillmore gave off a nervous laugh. He and Guido struggled to put it back, causing quite a bit of noise. "Will you stop knocking it? You'll tell them we're here!" Sarge hissed. "Sorry, it came off," Fillmore defended. "Well set it down for now and don't look in through there anymore!" Sarge quietly argued. "Don't yell at me!" Fillmore half shouted. "I'm not yelling!" Sarge snapped. Then there were a few clicks of guns. Everyone turned around to see a dozen gangsters standing behind them. "You two argue like an old married couple, loud enough not only for me to hear, but for the hologram machine to transmit, so Axlerod and Zundapp heard it," the Black Lord sneered. The cars-people glared at Sarge and Fillmore, as if saying "Thanks a ton, you two." The Black Lord confiscated all their weapons and threw them in the cell with the teens; well all the weapons except for Guido's gun, whose holster broke, so he put it in his pocket, and Fillmore's dart gun was still in his pocket. "Worst rescuers ever," Adam sneered when he saw who had joined them. "Who are they?" Gavin asked, pointing at Holley and Finn. The man is Finn McMissile, he's a secret agent and sent on this mission in the first place," Sally explained. "And he was such a fool to do that," the Black Lord said. "Will you stay out of this and go back to whatever you were doing before these idiots showed up!" Sara shouted. She turned to the cars-people and said "No offense." "None taken," Mater said. "The lady is Holley Shiftwell, my girlfriend." "Oh, so this is Holley, well, she is sort of a hottie," Travis said. "Excuse me?" Holley asked the teen. "Don't mind him, he's an idiot," Harold Trillo sneered. "What we do mind is that you look like Katelyn Upton," Kendra said. "If you had different clothes and light brown hair, you'd be a perfect copy." "Oh no," Lightning muttered. "Yeah, and my dad said you looked like a friend of his from Afghanistan, and he died there. I think he said his name was John Stanson," Juan added. "I heard your dad say that," Gavin said. "I wonder what gave him that idea." "It's probably a coincidence," Finn repeated what he had said to the teens to the parents. "So, you got the agents, are you going to let us go?" Harold asked. "No, I lied to them," the Black Lord stated. "Wait, you mean you'll kill us? A bunch of innocent teens?" Trenton snapped. "That's right," the gangster said. "You're a monster," Milly said. "No, I'm just a gangster," the Black Lord insisted. "Monster," Milly stated. "Gangster," Black Lord snarled, "Mon-Ster!" Milly snapped. "That's it! You're going first!" the man snapped, whipping out a gun and aiming it at Milly, who yelped out of fear. Guido saw the girl in peril and whipped out his gun and shot a bullet that nearly got the Black Lord in the face. "Who shot that?" he questioned. "Was it you, McQueen? Or was it Mater or Holley?" "You okay there pal? You sound like a ghost shot that bullet," Lightning said. "Ghost? Oh please," the Black Lord sneered. "Ghosts? That's it!" Kendra thought. She noticed a mirror in the cell and walked over to it. "Thomas Gale! Thomas Gale! Thomas Gale!" she shouted at the mirror. "What are you doing?" Holley asked. "Getting help," Kendra stated. Then, she saw a pair of eyes that weren't hers looking back at her. Then, before anyone knew it, Mr. Gale stepped out of the mirror and waltzed over to the cell door. "What the hell is going on?" the Black Lord asked when he saw the soul of one of the people he had murdered in the past. Tom held up his hands toward the door, causing it to vibrate until it flew off and crashed into the hologram machine. "Dammit! That was my only contact to Axlerod!" the gangster snapped. "Good, that makes things easier for us!" Finn said, hitting the villain behind the head. "Get them!" commanded the Black Lord. The mobsters charged at the escaping heroes just when they got their weapons back. Some of the other gangsters tried to attack them from behind when several objects got thrown at them. Leo looked to see who was doing that to see T.J. Condrey and Mario Camilo throwing lamps or small tables at the enemy. "Dad!" Jasmine exclaimed. "Papa!" Iralanda said. Just then, one of the henchmen started to shoot at the ghosts. "That's not going to work," Mr. Gale advised, throwing a big table at him. "You already killed us." Then, a red motorcycle tore through the room, knocking over several bad guys. "Good job, Lucas," shouted Scott Betts as he beat up several mobsters. "Please don't call me that!" Luke McKay shouted over the roar of the motorbike engine. "I'm not cool with this!" Fillmore shouted shaking as he used the dart gun and got 5 enemies already. "You and me both," Gavin shrieked as he nearly got hit by a few bullets. "This is awesome!" Juan shouted. "Anybody got an extra gun?" Then the teen noticed a box full of hand guns. "Never mind!" he added. "That kid's become a maniac," Ryan Buckminster whispered to his son. "Well, if you put him in a war-like situation, he gets into the zone," Gavin replied. Christopher, not sure what to do, just followed Amy around the room until they both ran into a gangster twice their size that was about to clobber them both until Richard and Katelyn Upton, and Savannah Betts saw their kids in peril and grabbed him and threw him out of the way. "Stay away from our kids!" Richard snapped. The Black Lord, knowing that he'd be done for in seconds, attempted to run out of the building and get away when he ran into Yasmine Mohamet who slapped him so hard, she sent him flying into a wall. "Is that a ghost thing or did you do that in life?" Yasin asked his mother. "I could do that in life. I did that to your father when I first met him," Yasmine answered. "What'd he do?" Yasin had to know. "It's a story I can't get into while were all busy fighting," his mother explained. Meanwhile the Black Lord was trying to escape through another exit, but he met up with Kendra and Iralanda. "Gets out of my way, you little brats," he said pointing a gun at them making them jump. Just then, Mr. Gale and Mr. Camilo appeared right in front of him and socked him in the stomach forcing him back several feet. "If you lay one finger on my daughter, you will learn to regret it," Mario threatened. "The same goes for my daughter," Tom added. The mafia man just jumped to his feet and tried to back out of the room, but he backed up right into Red, so he turned around and tried to run and only got a few feet when he realized that he was surrounded by all the cars-people, ghosts and teens. He couldn't believe it; he was defeated. He dropped his gun and put his hands up. Finn went over to the phone and called Sun Springs. "We got him, bring Lizzie and the cops over here," he said. "Yes sir," said Mr. Joenns on the other end. Within 10 minute, there were a dozen police cruisers outside of the hideout and the ghosts disappeared before the first cop burst in. "Bye mom! Bye dad!" Amy called as her parents vanished. Mr. Mohamet ran into the room and saw all the gangsters either knocked out or injured on the floor. "Dang, looks like we all underestimated you guys, good job," he said. "We didn't underestimate them. We believed in them from the beginning," Aneil insisted. The other teens nodded except Harold. "I didn't," he added. Everyone just glared at him. "Let's get all these guys into the cruisers before they become conscious," Mr. Joenns said. The police locked up all the criminals in the escort trucks, all of them except for the Black Lord. "Actually, we'll be taking him with us," Finn said before Mr. Mohamet could grab the mafia man. "What? Why?" he asked. "We need him to finish our mission," Finn explained. "This man has been wanted in Star City for years and he has to be given the electric chair for all the chaos he has done!" the police officer argued. "I'm sorry, but we need the Black Lord to stop another enemy of ours, and he's the only one who knows where he is," Finn insisted. Meanwhile, the teens were talking with the cars-people. "When we get back to Sun Springs, we'll throw a big party to celebrate. We'll announce you guys as heroes!" Travis stated. "That's great Travis but…" Mater said, and then he stopped knowing that he was going to tell the kid he was going to leave and never come back. "But what?" Kendra asked. "We can't stay," Sally said sadly. "That's okay, after you interrogate the Black Lord, you can come back, then we'll party!" Adam exclaimed. "No, Adam, we won't be back. We're going home. Our real home," Lightning explained. Adam's smile vanished. "Maybe we can visit you-." He suggested. "No Adam, we don't live in this world, we live in what you say, another dimension," Holley explained. "I don't understand," Aneil said. "Well, this is your last chance to say good-bye, so say it," Sarge told the teens. The teens didn't say anything; they just stood there stunned. "We have to hurry, the portal will open in a few minutes," Holley warned the other cars-people. "Portal?" Leo asked. "Yeah, that's how we all ended up where you found us," Mater explained. Then, out of nowhere, a blue portal hole appeared on a wall. "What the?!" Mr. Mitchem exclaimed. "Time to go," Finn said as he dragged the apprehended Black Lord through the portal. Holley jumped in after him. As the cars-people approached the portal, the teens just stood and watched in shock as their friends were about to leave. Then, Adam, deciding that it was not time for them to leave, leapt into action. Literally! He ran at Lightning and jumped on his back and tackled the once-race car to the ground. "You can't leave! I won't let you!" the boy screamed. "I'm sorry, Adam, but I have to leave!" Lightning argued, trying to get the kid off him. Mater and Sally ran to help but Travis, Leo and Kendra got the same idea and tried to stop them too! Kendra, with her hands latched onto Sally's blazer, shouted. "Don't leave! We're your friends!" "Take us with you!" Travis pleaded, grabbing Mater by his jacket. Mater was struggling to get free until he remembered what Quinton taught him days earlier: how to take off a jacket. He slipped out of it and ran for the portal and leapt inside. Sally, who had finally gotten Leo and Adam off Lightning, slipped off her blazer and escaped through the portal, leaving Kendra clutching her blazer. Meanwhile, Juan was trying to get Sarge to stay as well. "Let go, soldier!" Sarge shouted. "Never! You can't make me!" Juan protested. Then Sarge got an idea. "Atten hut!" he commanded. Juan immediately released him and stood up straight and still, allowing Sarge to escape. "NOOO!" Juan cried. Gavin ran by saying "At ease," allowing Juan to move again and go after Sarge while Gavin went after Fillmore. "Dude! Don't leave!" Gavin shouted. "Sorry man, I need to get home with my friends," Fillmore said, jumping into the portal, followed by Sarge. Sheriff helped Red get Lizzie through the portal and they jumped in after her. Yasin, Christopher, and Amy watched as their teachers left their world and Christopher began to cry. Luigi and Guido got through the portal before Iralanda and Aneil got close enough to grab them. Sally, Flo and Ramone jumped in next. Lightning was the last one to escape and took one last glance at the teens. Then he did something very quickly; he pulled off his jacket and left it on the ground for them and left. The portal closed after he left. The teens just stood and stared at the wall in silence until Travis said "I didn't get to say good-bye to them." Then, one by one, the teens slowly walked to their parents' vehicles for a long, sad drive home, knowing their friends were gone, but before Leo went to his mother, he ran back toward the wall and grabbed Lightning's jacket and took it with him. In the Cars world, Lightning came out of the portal and landed in the middle of the room, breathing heavily as he turned around and watched the portal machine powering down. He heard the familiar sound of his engine revving and realized that he was a race car again. Normally, he would have been happy to be himself again, but for some reason, he just stayed glum. His friends were once again cars as well. Everyone was safe. Then, he noticed that the Black Lord was still a human and was standing out at the moment. "Tell us what you know about Axlerod's plans," Finn ordered the man. The gangster just snickered and said "Why don't you ask him yourself?" "What are you talking about?" Holley asked, wondering what the human was implying until the doors to the room opened and four blurs of color zoomed around the group of cars. Sheriff grumbled, realizing who they were. When they stopped, they were revealed to be Boost, Wingo, DJ, and Snot Rod, plus other import cars. "You import punks!" Sheriff snarled. "That's us," Boost sneered. "How'd you get in here? You're a bunch of idiots," Sally asked. "Our new boss," Wingo said, pointing a tire at the doorway as Sir Miles Axlerod and Professor Zundapp entered the room with evil looks in their eyes. "I see you brought my ally, thank you tow truck," Axlerod said as the Black Lord got away from the good cars and stood near Axlerod. "How'd you get in here?" Finn questioned. "We hacked into your security codes and we chained your friend Siddley to the roof so you have no way of escape," Zundapp explained. "And now you're all in trouble," Grem sneered as he, Acer, and the other lemons entered the room. The good cars looked at each other, worried about the fate of the world and themselves.

Chap. 15: Back in the human world, the teens were sitting outside the café that evening wondering what to do next; their friends were gone and all they had left of them was Sally's blazer, Mater's jacket, and Lightning's jacket. "What happened?" Aneil asked. "The greatest people we've ever met left our world for another," Jasmine said coldly. "I can't believe they all just left like that," Harold said. "I barely knew them, but I could tell they were good guys." "I wish there was-a some way we could see them all again," Iralanda said. "There is a way," Trenton said. "What?" all the other teens asked. "It's Juan's basement," Trenton stated. "You don't mean the portal machine my father was asked to keep from the outside world? No way!" Juan shot down. "If you want to see Sarge again, this is the only way," Trenton said. Juan sighed and said. "Fine, we'll try it, but we need something from the other dimension to make it work." "And we got those," Trenton stated, pointing at the jackets lying on the table. "Let's give it a shot!" Leo exclaimed. The teens went down to the basement of the Joenns' military bunker and found a machine that was similar to the one in C.H.R.O.M.E, only much smaller for humans. There was a keypad with several buttons and a small compartment next to it. Juan took the jackets from Leo, Travis, and Kendra and put them in the compartment and closed the door. "Scanning objects: Two cotton jackets, and one cotton blazer," said a female computer voice. "Both items from the dimension: 3-1-18-19." {If you check it, it spells 'Cars'.} "What could be in that dimension?" Amy asked as the portal opened, allowing entry. "Only one way to find out, you first Amy," Trenton said picking up the small girl and tossed her into the portal. "I hate you!" she screamed. "Okay, everybody in on the count of three, 1…" Trenton said. "Oh no," Harold muttered. "2…" "Oh dodge," Aneil said. "3!" "Goody!" Gavin cheered. All the teens leapt through the portal, either cheering with delight or screaming with terror. Within moments, in the Cars world, the C.H.R.O.M.E portal flickered to life and the humans flew into the room. "That was great…where are we?" Adam asked. "We made it…I think," Iralanda squealed. "What was that?" asked a voice with a New York accent. "It came from the portal room, let's check it out," said a voice with a Detroit accent. Grem and Acer drove into the room and yelped when they saw the human teens. The teens screamed when they saw the talking cars, and the Lemons screamed again. Professor Zundapp heard the screams and drove into the room to investigate and was surprised to see his two best cars screaming at the sight of young humans. Not at all spooked by the surprise, and rolling his eyes at the ridiculous situation, had he then shouted "SHUT UP!" at the Gremlin and Pacer, silencing the screamers. Gavin gasped. "It's Professor Zundapp, the evil scientist from Cars 2." Ignoring the teenage hippie, the Kleinwagon turned towards Grem and Acer. "Why are you screaming? They are human, like our ally, not to mention armless children!" he upbraided them. "Oh, are we?" Adam asked, whipping a small silver pistol out of his pocket and shot a bullet at Zundapp's tire, causing it to pop. Juan whipped out his gun from the hideout and fired at the ceiling in warning. "A gun! The brats got guns!" Acer exclaimed as his own gun came out of the side of his headlights. "N-YAAA!" Adam yelped. "Take the children to the cells with the other prisoners…NOW!" Zundapp commanded. "Sure thing, Professor Z," Grem said. "We're dead," Harold gulped. "Who're the other prisoners?" Amy asked. The other teens rolled their eyes at the girl. The cars were parked in the prison cell in the building. "We're locked up with no escape in a cell I created, such irony," Finn said. "(In that case I hate irony,)" Guido said. "Well, at least we tried, right?" Sally said. "And now the world is in danger of being run by Lemons! What do we do?" Mater asked. "What can we do? We're trapped here until Axlerod decides to kill us and the Tuner Gang is sitting just outside those doors," Lightning said. Everyone was silent; the race car was right, escape was hopeless. Just then, the doors rolled open and the Tuner Gang, accompanied by Grem and Acer entered the room. "Don't even try to escape, because we'll go after you," Acer warned. "Thanks for the tip," Holley said sarcastically. "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to some intruders," Acer snapped as the teens entered the room. The cars gasped when they saw their friends from the human world in their dimension. How did they get here? "Leo, no," Lightning gasped. The teens slowly entered the cell, with Amy and Christopher following close behind. Suddenly, Grem knocked them both down, laughing. "You wouldn't hurt a poor disabled girl and a mute boy would you?" Amy pleaded. "Yes I would," Grem threatened. "Disabled?" Boost asked. "I can't walk, bozo, I can't go anywhere on my own because I could get lost or hurt. If I were a car, I'd be without headlights," Amy explained. Boost's eyes widened when he heard her say that. Grem was about to crush her with his tire when Boost snapped "Hey!" Grem stopped and glared at the import. "I think making her scream and throwing her in this cell is enough for her to handle. There will be no need for that, now get the hell out of here!" Boost snarled. Grem eyes widened at Boost's sudden defensive attitude toward him, but he backed away from Amy and Christopher, letting them into the cell and shutting the door. Grem continued to glare at Boost coldly until the import revved his engine threateningly at the Gremlin. "Okay! Alright! I'm going!" Grem shouted as he and Acer drove out of the room, closing the door behind them. "Damn Gremlin," Boost muttered. Then he noticed that his friends and the prisoners were looking at him full of surprise by the Kyoku Jitsu's actions. "What?" he asked, annoyed by their gawking. "I never knew you had a soft spot for disabled children," Kendra said. "I don't have a soft spot!" Boost defended. "If you didn't, you would have let Grem hurt Amy," Jasmine said. "Who are you really?" "None of your business," Boost bit. "Come on, I think you've been through something I went through, like my dad dying." "And you seemed to react when Amy compared herself to a car without headlights," Kassie added. "Did you know a car without headlights? You can talk about it with us. Gangsta car to gangsta kid," Milly said. "Aren't you young to be a gangsta?" Snot Rod asked. "Not in our town," Milly said. "So tell us, why are you like who you are?" Jasmine asked. "Something in your life seemed to involve a car without headlights." Lightning realized that Jasmine was using similar words that he said to her and her siblings when they were still bullies. He knew that she was trying to change the import car, but could she? "Fine, I'll tell you!" Boost gave in. "I had a little sister named Speedy, and she was small for her age, and she also didn't have headlights. She got picked on a lot in school and came home every now and then crying with a new dent. As she got older, the bullying got worse. My parents and I tried to help her, but none of our suggestions for ignoring the bullying worked. Then, one night, our parents weren't home and I was supposed to watch Speedy, but she didn't come home, so I went out and looked for her. I eventually found the kids that have been picking on her outside some very dark and dense woodland. I asked them what was going on and they told me Speedy drove into the woods after a stranger told her that it was a 'big accomplish' to navigate through dark woods without headlights! I speed into the woods, trying to find her and I looked for her for an hour until I finally found her driving dangerously close to a ditch! I tried to warn her but it was too late; she made a wrong turn and tumbled into the ditch. I drove over there and started to shout for help. Sometime later, a tow truck and car came up and got her out. She was not in good shape; she was covered in dirt, her tires were messed up, she was dented all over and her windshield was cracked. The car said she lost lots of oil and we needed to get her to doctor as fast as we could. We put her on a flatbed and drove to the hospital. I was thinking about what my parents would think when they found out what happened to her when Speedy started to speak. She said she was sorry she listened to a stranger and that she caused all this trouble, I told her it was okay. Then she said I was a good brother and that she'd miss me. Then she closed her eyes just when we got to the hospital. The doctor said she died from oil loss. I was devastated and didn't want to face my parents, so I left before they could show up. My mother was crying so much and my father vowed to find the man who told her to do what she did, but he knew that was impossible. I left my town shortly after the funeral to try to recover from what happened, but I just got worse! I found myself picking on other cars and wreaking havoc in small towns to let off steam and I eventually got myself tricked out to look more menacing. Not long after, I met up with Wingo, DJ, and Snot Rod and I've been like this ever since." "That was a very informative backstory," Milly said, her eyes wide. "Listen Boost, I'm sorry for what happened to your sister, but you don't have to take it out on innocent cars. It wasn't your fault, nor was it theirs," Jasmine said. "How do you know?" Boost asked the human. "Because I've bullied people too, mostly these guys, after what happened to my father," Jasmine explained pointing at the other teens. "Then, a few days ago, a man told me that I don't have to bully to feel better about myself and it won't bring my dad back, and also, he said my dad wouldn't appreciate me bullying kids to tears, and I don't think Speedy would want you to bully either." Boost was silent for a few minutes until he asked. "Do you think she's watching me now?" "Yeah, and she's probably wondering why her brother is being the bully he protected her from," Kassie said. Boost was quiet again for a few minutes until he finally said "Come on, let's go." The imports were driving out of the room when Finn stopped them saying, "One more thing, Boost." Boost screeched to a halt and turn around to face the old Faultless GT. "That car you're working for, he cannot be trusted. He'll get rid of you and the other imports once he thinks you're all no longer needed," he warned. The Tuner Gang's eyes widened and they quickly drove out of the room so fast, the cars and teens swore they heard a sonic boom.

Chap. 16: "Why were you going easy on him?" Sheriff asked Jasmine. "I think I can change him and the other imports too," Jasmine said. "Now, why are you not screaming in terror at us like Grem and Acer did?" "We've seen humans before," Lightning stated. "Whoa! You're Lightning McQueen! You were my inspiration for becoming a racer when I was a kid," Leo stated. "Really, I didn't know that," Lightning said. "Gee, I thought the Cars films were just movies, not reality," Adam said. "In your world, maybe, but in our world, all that stuff really happened," Finn explained. "You mean…" Kelly said. "The Piston Cup, the World Grand Prix, all happened in this world." "Wow, John Lasseter is going to get sued big time," Juan said. "That's is-a what I said," Luigi said. "Not exactly, but close." "So, Leo, what are you doing here and how did you get here?" Lightning asked the teen. "How do you my name?" Leo questioned the race car. "We've met before, remember? Lightning, the man who helped you with your motorbike racing and these cars were your friends too," Lightning said. "If you really are Lightning and our friends, answer these questions: What was my father's real name?" Leo asked. "Luke McKay, but Scott Betts called him Lucas," Lightning answered. "What do you have to do to summon the ghost of my father?" Kendra asked. "Stand in front of a mirror and say his name, Thomas Gale, three times, Kendra," Sally said. "Name my sisters from youngest to oldest," Juan jumped in. "Cydney, Sela, Anna, and Darrian," Sarge said. "What caused my big motorbike racing accident?" Trenton asked. "Kelsey Hawkeye had small blades on her motorcycle wheels and when she rubbed you, one of the blades cut into your tire, causing it to pop and the bike to flip over with you still on it. It caused your leg to get crushed and your father, Dr. Garwood has never let you race ever since," Lightning explained. "What was my mother's name?" Yasin asked. "Yasmine Mohamet," Sheriff answered. "Where did you first see the ghost of my father and what was his name?" Iralanda asked "On the second floor of the courthouse and his name is Mario Camilo," Luigi stated. "Which of my neighbors can hear my parents arguing?" Aneil asked. "(The Joenns, the Shens, the Buckminsters and the Camilos,)" Guido answered with ease. "What skills did my parents say I need to brush up on?" Kelly asked. "Your singing and waitress skills," Flo said. "What did I do very recently?" Travis asked. "You caused a cattle stamped in Sun Springs," Mater stated. "What happened on the last day of school?" Gavin asked. "You blew up the school on accident, man," Fillmore said. "What song did me, Kelly and Yasin sing in the café?" Quinton asked. "'Drive By' by Train," Ramone answered. "What happened to our father?" Milly asked. "He was shot by the police after a call from the Black Lord and his body fell down a canyon," Lightning responded. "What's the name of my family's store?" Adam asked. "Edmund Emporium," Sally stated. "What did I do to you, Guido, Aneil, Travis, and Adam on your first day in Star City?" Harold asked. "You told the driver we were hitchin' ride," Mater said. "They're all correct. It's them!" Aneil stated. "Wow! My favorite Cars character was my racing teacher. When you said you were a race car, me and Adam thought you meant a race car driver," Leo said. "Now, tell us what are you doing here?" Sarge asked. "We wanted to know if you were all okay, and Travis didn't say good-bye," Trenton explained. "Good-bye, okay, I'm good," Travis said. "Wow, de ja vu again," Lightning said. "And now we know why," Leo said. "How did you get here?" Holley had to know. "My dad keeps a portal machine in the basement and we used your jackets to find your dimension. Looks like we succeeded," Juan explained. "Anyway, again, why do you think you can change the Tuner Gang?" Sheriff asked. "It's never too late to change who you are," Milly stated. "It may not have been too late for you kids, but I know it's too late for them," Sheriff argued. "Says you!" Milly snapped. "How about we talk about something else other than the Tuner Gang," Sally suggested before the argument got worse. "How did you get caught by Grem and Acer?" "They heard us talking and cornered. "I shot a bullet at Zundapp's tire, though," Adam said holding up his silver pistol. "Whoa, you have a gun, where'd you get a gun?" Ramone asked the boy. "My dad gave it to me as a matter of self-defense, they took the bullets though," Adam explained. "I got a gun too," Juan added, holding up his own hand gun. "And why did you come?" Lightning asked Harold. "They forced me," Harold stated. "NO WE DIDN'T!" the teens protested angrily.| Meanwhile; the Tuner Gang were on their way to report to Sir Axlerod about the prisoners. "What was that old car tripping about?" Snot Rod asked Boost. "He thinks Axlerod is going to betray us imports, but I don't believe it; he gave us his word," Boost said. When the import gang was only two feet from the meeting room, they heard J. Curby Gremlin say "How much longer will we need those imports? One of them already threatened one of my Gremlins." "What?" Boost thought. "Not long, after we dispose of the agents and take over the world, we shall trick all the imports into my disintegration chamber and turn them all into ash," Zundapp stated. "Excellent, the sooner the better," Axlerod said. "Oh Dodge! That old car was right! What do we do?" DJ hissed. Boost thought it over for a few minutes until saying "DJ, Wingo, go warn the other imports about what we heard, while me and Snot Rod head back to the prison room." "What are you going to do?" Wingo asked. "Set the 'enemy' free," Boost stated.| Back with the cars and teens, they had just finished arguing with Harold about his reasons for coming to the Cars world until he admitted that he wanted to go on an adventure, then Sheriff turned the issue back to the Tuner Gang. "Are you sure you changed the Tuner Gang? Because I doubt you did," he said. "I keep telling you, I think I did change them, and I think they will come back and free us and take us to Siddley," Jasmine stated. "If they do that, then I'll trust more often," Sheriff stated. Just then, Boost and Snot Rod drove into the room and clicked the button for opening the cell door. "What are you doing?" Sally asked. "The agent car was right. Axlerod is planning to kill us after this take over the world thing. We came to get you guys out and take you to Siddley," Boost explained. Jasmine had a ridiculous grin on her face and looked at Sheriff. The old cop car just grumbled and drove out of the cell. "Thanks for the help," Lightning said to the import. "Yes that was a rather bold move you did, thank you," Finn added. "No problem," Boost said. "Where are Wingo and DJ?" Kassie asked. "Rounding up the other imports, we'll meet up with them on the way out," Snot Rod answered. "What will you dudes do? Axlerod will have your hoods for this," Darren stated. "We were hoping to help you guys, we know all about Axlerod's plan and we are willing to tell you it," Boost said. "Well, Finn. Do you think we can trust them?" Holley asked. "Yes, I believe we can," Finn concluded. "However, if you try anything funny, I'll throw you all in the impound lot," Sheriff threatened. "Don't worry officer, you can trust us," Snot Rod insisted. The imports lead the cars out of the prison area down several halls to find the ramp to the roof, where Siddley was. "The ramp is on the next turn," Boost informed when Harold and Amy started to complain about running for so long. [Actually Amy was sitting on top of Red, bored of all the long turns.] But when the cars and teens turned around a corner, they were greeted by a small army of Gremlins, led by J. Curby Gremlin himself. "Going somewhere?" the old car asked sincerely. "Get out of way, Curby! You may be older than me, but I'm still faster than you and stronger too," Boost warned. "I know, but in case you didn't notice, you're outnumbered," J. Curby sneered. Boost counted the army and realized that it was 10 against 1 if they fought. "We're doomed," Harold said. Just then, the sound of several approaching engines come into earshot and before anyone knew it, a black import rammed into three Gremlins into a wall. Wingo and DJ came down the hall with the other imports following close behind. "Let's make this a fair fight!" Wingo shouted. Now it was 5 to one, much easier. The cars drove into battle. Mater, Finn, and Holley did their Carate, while Aneil did human karate. Iralanda, who said she was part of something called a Creed, leapt around from place and dented random Lemons to the point of annoyance. Juan used a metal pole he found as a bow staff and beat the old cars very hard with it. Guido, who happened to have his wrench with him, used his professional pit stop skills to remove the bad cars' tires and even lifted some out of his way. Red used his water hose to spray the cars away from him and Amy. Flo blinded some of them with her headlights while the others just rammed them with whatever strength they had. It didn't take long for J. Curby Gremlin to shout "Retreat!" The Gremlins sped out of the hallway, allowing the cars passageway to the roof. Boost lead them up there to see Siddley chained to the roof. "While Miss. Shiftwell and I free Siddley, you keep an eye out for any more Lemons, or better yet, create a barricade to keep them out," Finn ordered. He and Holley got small lasers out of their hubcaps and got to work on cutting the chains. During that time, the other cars and humans used whatever they could find to keep the door closed off, such as crates. Then, Iralanda froze in her steps. "I hear them coming!" she warned. All the cars stopped what they were doing to hear the sound of several approaching engines from the other side of the barricade. Then there was a loud bang and the barricade vibrated. "They're trying to bust in!" Snot rod warned. "Everyone on board, hurry!" Finn ordered after breaking the last chain. "Women and me first!" Harold shouted, running up the loading ramp into Siddley. The other teens and cars followed close behind. "Are you sure you'll be able to carry this many cars and people at once?" Kendra asked. "Don't worry, I've carried heavier things," Siddley assured the girl. Lightning was the last one to get on the jet, but he took one last look at the barricade to see it starting to collapse. "Lightning! Come on!" Leo shouted. Lightning entered the spy plan and within a few moments, it was up in the air and on its way before the Lemons could stop it. "What do we do now?" Sally asked. "We have to get back to Radiator Springs to make a plan to stop Axlerod, and you know some cars that can help us to do that," Finn said. "Siddley, set route for Radiator Springs." "On my way," the Glidesworth A113 replied. "Afterburners, sir?" "Is there any other way?" Finn said. Then he looked at the humans on board. "You kids might want to hold onto something," Finn informed. "Why?" Travis asked, as Trenton grabbed ahold of something. Just when Siddley activated the afterburners, the sudden force of speed caused the teens to fly back and hit a wall flat on their backs. "Some of the teens were enjoying themselves such as Kendra, Leo, Juan, Aneil, Milly and Trenton, were laughing the whole. Gavin, Iralanda, and Harold were screaming with fear. Adam was naming every humane deed he'd do if he survived the flight. Kelly was cursing in Spanish and Yasin was cursing in what everyone later figured out was Swahili. Travis shouted "This is awesome!" "This is wicked!" Amy exclaimed. "This is not fun!" Darren and Kassie screamed. "WHOOOOOOAAAAAA!" Quinton and Jasmine cried. Sara was completely emotionless, acting like it didn't bother her and Christopher was smiling the whole way. Sometime later, the teens that were screaming stopped, the laughing ones calmed down as well, Adam, Kelly, and Yasin were out of breath from their long dialogues. Basically everyone was enjoying the flight. "Well that was and interesting hour," Holley said. "We adapt to things within an hours because it will just get tiring," Trenton explained. "5 minutes till Radiator Springs," Siddley said. Trenton looked out a nearby window to get a look at the town first. He frowned. "Are you sure this is Radiator Springs?" he asked. "What do you mean?" Lightning asked. "It doesn't look good from here," Trenton said. "Don't worry, it'll look better up close," Mater stated. "No, I didn't mean it like that," Trenton said. "When I land, you kids might feel a small jump," Siddley warned. When the spy plane landed in the desert sand, the teens got thrown off the floor and fell flat on their behinds. "Ow! Small jump, Siddley?" Adam sneered. The cars and people got of the jet and all gasped at the sight of their hometown of Radiator Springs. "That's what you meant," Lightning said to Trenton.

Chap. 17: "Oh no…" Sally gasped, sounding ready to cry. The Cozy Cone Motel was shattered and in shambles; Lightning's racing headquarters were in a similar state, but there was more rubble; the Curio Shop had holes all over the room and windows and all the merchandise inside was destroyed; Fillmore's Taste-In geodesic dome looked like it collapsed and the fabric was torn; Sarge's Surplus Hut was half blown up and a lot of his surplus was either destroyed or missing; Luigi's Casa Della Tires had a lot a broken windows and the smell of burnt rubber came from it and the Leaning Tower of Tires appeared to have been knocked over, landing and crushing part of the building; Red's garden was torn up out of the ground; all the billboard were burnt, including the one with Lightning McQueen and Mater on it; Flo's V8 Café was completely obliterated and the gas machines were all blown up; Ramone's House of Body Art was in the same state, because of all the flammable paint no doubt; the museum was in the same state as the Cozy Cone; Mater's Junkyard and the impound lot were taken apart; the other shops were dismantled or blown up as well; the only things that survived the entire ordeal was the courthouse and the statue of the town founder, Stanley. "Oh, Stanley, what happened?" Lizzie asked the statue as if it would answer. "Our town, our beautiful town, is destroyed," Flo said, sadly. "Axlerod is going to pay for this," Boost snarled. "Did you know about this?" Sheriff questioned. "I've heard, but I didn't see the damage for myself," Boost admitted. "They even destroyed the museum. Doc's Piston Cups were in there," Lightning said, investigating the rubble. "Careful, Lightning, I don't think any tires survived this," Aneil warned. "I'm really sorry about this, Lightning. If our parents didn't hold you and your friends in Sun Springs for so long, this probably wouldn't have happened," Leo apologized. "Don't worry, Leo, it wasn't their fault, even if we were here, this still could have happened," Lightning said. "Hey, guys, where's Mia and Tia? Don't they live here now?" Kendra asked. "And Mr. and Mrs. the King?" Mater added. "Oh Dodge! Mia! Tia! Mr. the King! Lynda!" Sally called out. The other cars looked around the abandoned town, trying to find their missing friends. 10 minutes went by when Ramone Ramone stood high on his hydraulics and looked up at window in the courthouse. "Hey! I think I see some people in the courthouse!" he shouted. "Really who?" Sally had to know. "I can't tell, all I can see is a light," Ramone stated. Kassie had an idea. "Wingo, park under the window facing away from the building," she instructed the wingo car. "Okay," Wingo parked under the window facing toward the town. "What are you planning-AHH!" he tried to ask when Kassie began to climb his spoiler like it was a ladder. "Whoa! What are you doing! That is a no-climb-zone! You hear me! A no-climb-zone!" he shouted at the girl. "Well, it's your fault you had your spoiler look like a ladder," Kassie bit back at the import. "Ramone's right! There are a dozen cars in there. I don't know who's who though," she stated after peering into the window. "Let me see, I a-know more about the characters than you ever will," Iralanda said, climbing up the spoiler and stood on the tip of it, looking in the window. "Has anyone noticed that my spoiler has become a ladder for humans?" Wingo asked sarcastically to nobody in particular. "Be careful Iralanda," Luigi advised the girl. "Okay, I-a see the Weathers, Mia, Tia, Mack, Francesco Bernoulli-," Iralanda ticked off the names. "Francesco? What is he doing here? The Radiator Springs wasn't supposed to start until two weeks from now," Lightning said. "He probably came to practice and was there during the attack or showed up afterward to see this. He's not the only Grand Prix racer there, I can also see Jeff Gorvette, Shu Todoroki, Carla Veloso, Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Gearsly, Max Schnell, Raoul ÇaRoule, Miguel Camino, and Rip Clutchgoneski," Iralanda added. "If you don't get off my spoiler now, I will speed so fast you'll fall off," Wingo warned, annoyed by the feeling of human feet on him. Kassie jumped off, heeding his warning, but Iralanda stayed. "Go ahead, try," she dared. Wingo sped out of the spot and Iralanda leapt off and twirled in the air like an acrobat and landed on her feet perfectly, not at all hurt. "How'd you do that?" Wingo asked, seeing the girl survived. "Physics, I'll teach you if you ever come to the human world," Iralanda offered. "No thank you," Wingo sneered. But Snot Rod rolled up and whispered "I'll take that offer." "We better get in there and find out what happened," Sally said. As the cars and humans were entering the courthouse, Rip Clutchgoneski glanced out the window Kassie and Iralanda looked in a few minutes earlier to see the imports entering the building. "Guys! Imports are entering the courthouse!" he warned. The cars all gasped and turned out the light and stayed in one corner. "What do we do?" Tia whispered to Lynda Weathers. "I-I don't know," Lynda responded. Then there was a bang on the door, for it was locked. "Francesco, you're closest to the door, you check to see how outnumbered we are," Carla Veloso ordered. "What! Me! No, they'll strip my parts and sell them on the internet!" Francesco hissed. Lewis and Jeff ended up forcing the Italian Formula Car toward the door and quickly reversed away. Francesco gulped and glanced back at his friends before slowly peering into the peephole, shaking very badly. He saw red, brown, and blue. He screamed. "Who is it?" Max hissed. "Lightning and his friends," Francesco said, taking another look to see a lightning bolt pattern and noticing that the blue was Sally and the brown was Mater. He unlocked the door to reveal the heroes and the hiding cars drove out of the corner and cheered. "Rip! You said you saw imports!" Shu upbraided the Rearendian race car. "Oh, he did," Lighning said as he pointed at the Tuner Gang and their friends enter the room. "How dare you bring them here! They work-a for the bad guys!" Francesco snapped. "We saw some of them during the attack!" "I thought you said you didn't know about this?" Sally asked Boost. "We didn't! I swear we didn't! The Tuner Gang had nothing to do with it! Not sure about the other imports though," Boost stated. A black import with red-orange triangle things on its hood, making it look like he has a Mohawk drove forward. "I admit it, I was one of the imports that destroyed your town, but I am sorry and I'm willing to help you stop Axlerod," he said. "What made you change sides?" The King asked. "Axlerod was going to kill us after he succeeded with his plan. It was a big risk to change sides and help these dudes," Boost explained. "What happened here?" Lightning asked. "Last Saturday, after the WGP racers showed up, these rusty cars came into the café and I asked them if they needed anything like oil or fuel. This orange Gremlin said they needed nothing from us except to stay out of their way. They went around the town for a while, acting very oddly, until the museum blew up without warning! Then the strangers got out these guns and started to shoot at us. We all scattered into the desert to get away from the riot and saw from a ledge the town to start getting destroyed. The next thing to blow was the café which took out part of the Body Art building, then it was the surplus hut and we started to see smoke in the air. After it all cleared, we saw the town the way it is now and we all hid in the courthouse for the last few days. Fortunately, we haven't had customers for a few days," Lynda explained. "It was so scary, I thought we were all going to die," Mia said. "Luckily, that didn't happen, and I'm glad every one of you got out safely," Lightning said. "So what do we do now?" asked Nigel Gearsly. "That's why we're here, we need to come up with a plan and we need your help to do it," Mater explained. "How do we know if you'll come up with a good plan?" Shu asked. "Their plans are good; they used a great one to rescue us from the Black Lord," Travis said, walking into the room. "AAAAHHHH! What are those things?" Francesco asked. "We 'things' are human teenagers. My name's Jasmine," Jasmine said, sashaying into the room. "I'm her sister, Kassie," Kassie stated. "I'm Darren." "I'm Gavin!" "Adam Edmund here." "Juan Joenns reporting for duty!" "Aneil Jago at your service." "Iralanda Camilo." "Yo, I'm Milly Condrey." "Kendra Gale." "Leo McKay." "Trenton Garwood." "Travis Mitchem." "Sara Marcov." "Harold Trillo." "Amy Betts." "Kelly Watson." "Quinton Shen." "Yasin Mohamet." "The silent kid's Christopher Upton." "Humans? That's impossible, they should be myth," Carla said. "Maybe in this world, but in the human world, there's no such thing as talking cars, boats, planes, or trains," Leo stated. "So what's Axlerod's plan?" Jeff asked. "He's planning to take over the Cars and Human worlds with the help of a bad human named the Black Lord," Boost explained. "This Black Lord, how dangerous is-a he?" Francesco asked. "Let's just say he killed a lot of people important to us," Iralanda said sadly. "You mean…he killed your parents?" Tia gasped. "Actually he only killed my Papa, but he was a good dad," Iralanda said. "And he killed both of Christopher's parents, and right in front of him, too," Travis added. "Oh, you poor thing," Mia and Tia cooed, driving up to Christopher. "Oh, both of his parents died and they no longer give a hoot about my papa," Iralanda muttered. "Then, in that-a case, you're on your own!" Francesco said as he and the other World Grand Prix racers tried to leave the room. The other cars started to freak out over the fact that they might lose to the villains and Juan started to get fed up with it. It didn't take long for him to snap and run to the front of the room and shout. "STOP!" catching the attention of every car and teen in the room. "Nobody's going anywhere! We have to stick together! We're going to need all of you if we're going to stop Axlerod and the Black Lord, and we are going to stop them!" Everyone looked toward the teen. "Preach," Milly said. Juan went on. "He thinks he has us on the run, which means he doesn't expect us to bring the fight to him. Listen, I know we're not the best team, but it's all we've got. We're C.H.R.O.M.E now, this is our job." The small crowd looked like they were with him and admired his determination. "Now, we're about to embark on a potentially dangerous mission. There could be physical violence, there could be gun play, there's even the chance that some people might even get killed," Juan added. At the sound of this, everyone gasped. "So if anyone wants out, now is the time to say it," Juan said. "I'm out!" Francesco shouted. "Me too," Jeff added. "Ditto," Adam said. "I just remembered, I had to have my oil checked by my doctor," Raoul said. Everyone except our heroes, the other teens, and the Tuner Gang wanted out. "Juan knew he just screwed up his speech and there was no way to talk them back into the fight now. Then, an unidentified voice hollered "HOLD IT!" "Was that..?" Kendra asked as Christopher ran to the front of the crowd and up next to Juan. "Shame on each and every one of you!" he exclaimed. The teens and cars heroes gasped, even Red. "OMG! Chris is talking!" Amy squealed. Christopher went on. "I thought we were in this together? Look, I'm as scared as you are, but this has to be done! Do we want the bad guys to win?" Everyone looked at each other and shook their hoods or heads. "Didn't think so! We got to do this! For freedom! For justice! For honesty!" Christopher said. Nobody said a word for a full minute. At last Jeff broke the silence. "Wow, do I feel ashamed," he said. "Yeah, I feel like one shilling," Nigel said. "Well, I'm back in," Lewis stated. "You can count on me," said Raoul. "Francesco was-a only joking! It would be fun to dent Axlerod and his Lemons," Francesco said. "All for one and one for all!" Trenton shouted. Everyone cheered. "Way to go, Chris," Juan said. "Right on, man," Gavin added. "Now, we're going to go into a big battle, so we're going to need as many medics and cars to escort the innocent away as we can," Finn said. "So we'll need forklifts and tow trucks," Leo said. "Exactly, so we could use all your pit crews and every tow truck you know," Finn said. "Any suggestions?" "I got some friends named Tater and Tater Jr. who should help," Mater said. "And there's this tow truck at the Piston Cup races named Tow," Lightning added. "And our pit crews will be willing to help," Jeff said. "And what about actual fighters, we're still outnumbered," asked Kendra. "We'll have to round up everyone we know who isn't afraid to fight, so ask everyone you know," Finn suggested. "I got some friends in the military that will be willing to fight," Sarge said. "What will the innocent do?" Trenton asked. "In every city in the world, C.H.R.O.M.E has installed a safe building that will transport everyone to another place where it's safe. I'm getting a feeling that we'll need everyone to evacuate, so we'll use them all," Holley explained. "Yes, and as always, it shall be women and children. Only the men shall fight," Francesco said. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sally asked angrily. "Yeah, buddy, enlighten us!" a white and pink girl import asked the Italian race car. "Well, I just think that guys are tougher than girls and we should help the ladies whenever we can," Francesco explained, oblivious to the fact he was ticking the girls off. Carla drove up to him and slammed her tire onto his hood. "Still think we need any help?" she hissed. "Not-a really, no!" Francesco yelped. Carla took her tire off of him. "Boost, where is Axlerod planning on taking his army first?" Finn asked. "L.A," Boost answered. "Just like in all the epic movies and video games," Aneil muttered. "Wait, we're still sort of outnumbered. What people do the teens know?" asked Jeff. "We know a lot of other kids who could help, but to get them here, we need a portal machine, but the only one in the world is in C.H.R.O.M.E," Trenton stated. "No it isn't," Finn said. "Really? Where's the other one?" Adam had to know. "There a dozen other machines in Parking Area 51, you could use them to get your friends," Finn explained. "But how will we get in? Isn't that place guarded by, oh I don't know, HEAVILY ARMED GUARDS!" Adam snapped. "Yes, but we have someone who might get us all in," Finn said. "Who?" Lightning asked. Mater tapped his friend's tire and motioned toward where Sarge was parked. It didn't take long for all the cars and teens in the room to look at the Jeep who stiffened up a little. "Why is everyone staring at me?" he wondered. "Do you think you can get us into Area 51?" Juan asked. "I might, but I doubt they'll let me bring in all of you," Sarge said. "Or we could tell them we have humans, they'll fall for that!" Mater suggested. "NO!" all the teens shouted.

Chap. 18: At Parking Area 51, the cars and teens were gathered outside the entrance gate. Sarge banged on the front gate. "State your business," said a voice with a German accent. "We need to use your inter-dimensional portals," Sarge stated. "Negatory. Usage of the portals is forbidden to civilians and cars outside the government," responded the voice. "I think they're talking to you, Fillmore," Juan jabbed at the microbus. "We have a human teenager!" Fillmore shouted. Juan froze up. "A human! Come in," the voice replied excitedly. Gavin laughed as Juan paled at the thought Fillmore just gave him up to the government. Everyone entered and at first, the other military looked at them suspiciously, until Gavin shoved Juan to the front for everyone to see, then they all stopped what they were and looked at the boy in awe. "I'm going to destroy you both later!" Juan hissed at the hippies, who were snickering. They entered a big building to see a bunch of white forklifts. One with a mustache grill first noticed Mater. "Hey! That's the tow truck that snuck into our facility and stole our UFO," he said. "I didn't steal him, I rescued him. Mator is my friend," Mater explained. "Wait a second, you were telling the truth?" Lightning asked. "Look! A human teenager!" another scientist exclaimed when he saw Juan. "Please don't stick needles in me," Juan pleaded. "Stick on in him! I want to see him cry!" Gavin shouted. "Aha! Another human," a third scientist said, pulling Gavin out of the crowd. "NO!" Gavin cried. "Wait, there are at least 18 other humans in there!" the teen hippie stated, running back into the crowd and dragging Leo, Kendra, Trenton, Travis, Aneil, Iralanda, Yasin, Amy, Christopher, Adam, Sara, Jasmine, Milly, Kassie, Darren, Harold, Quinton and Kelly out. "Traitor!" Adam snarled. "So we see, now, we are told you needed to use out portal machines. What dimension are you planning on seeing?" the first scientist asked. "Our dimension, we need to round up some friends of ours to help us with a big battle that we have to do against a bad car," Juan explained. "Really? Why didn't you say so! They're in the back building," the forklift stated. The cars and humans sped over to the building and went inside to see at least 10 portal machines. "Okay, I have a plan on which people to recruit for the battle; Iralanda, you go to Italy and get your friends from this 'Creed' of yours; Aneil, you go to Japan and get your friends from your karate and sword fighting classmates; Harold, you go to Star City and get the Saturday racers and Leo, Trenton, Adam, and the Condrey Gang's motorcycles, and my sisters, and also all the weapons you can carry; Jasmine, you and your sisters and brother go find all the inner-city kids and teens you know; I'll go to all the boot camps around the world and get help from the kids there," Juan commanded. "What will I do?" Gavin asked. "What you do in all war-like situations: hide for your life and avoid the battle altogether," Juan sneered. "Oh come on! I know people too!" Gavin protested. "Like who?" Juan asked. "Um…Charlotte Mueller, Jack Zen, James Risqué, and Stephanie Anders," Gavin stated. "Isn't Charlotte a crazy neo-hippie?" Amy asked. "Aren't Jack and James geeks?" Darren asked. "Isn't Stephanie a loner?" Sara added. "Charlotte is weird, Jack and James are really smart, and Stephanie is a little reserved," Gavin corrected. "But they can help!" "Fine, go get them," Juan gave in. "Everyone else, let's move!" Immediately, the teens went into action. Iralanda set one portal machine to Italy and jumped through and within a few minutes, she came back with a dozen boys and girls her age with hoodies with a pointed tip on the top edge. Aneil set his machine for Tokyo and went through and brought back two dozen boys and girls his age with blue or red belts or wooden swords. Harold went through his portal and brought back the teens from the Saturday races then reset the destination and went back through. He came back again, but this time with Juan's sisters, his, Leo, Trenton, Adam, and the Condrey Gang's motorcycles. Jasmine and her siblings went through another portal and came back with a few teenage gangstas, but the reset it and jumped back in and brought back more teens. They did this for 3 more times and the last time, they brought back a boy about 18 years old wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and had black cornrows and brown skin. "Hey RJ," Milly greeted. "Hey, Milly, um…what's going on?" the boy asked. "And what's with that?" RJ pointed at the portal machine assigned himself and the Condrey Gang discovered their friends going through the portal several times and bringing back about a dozen teens each time, some of them older than him. He's already been to the U.S.A, Mexico, Canada, England, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, China, Japan, Brazil, India, Egypt, Mali, Bolivia, Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech. Republic, Thailand and his last stop was the Barbados. He came back with a girl with red-dyed hair, light brown skin and wearing as much camo Juan was. "Those guys I have to work with?" she asked, seeing the cars and other teens. "Yep, and a few others, Commander Riri," Juan saluted the girl. "Hey, Riri," RJ greeted the girl flirtatiously. "You two know each other?" Jasmine asked. "Yep, we lived in the Barbados in the same boot camp," RJ stated. "Until you quit so you could go to America with your big bro," Riri sneered. "Which I regretted, don't slap me, please," RJ stated. Despite of what he said, Riri slapped him hard on the cheek, knocking him to the floor. "Will you two be working together be a problem?" Juan asked. "Hey, just because I'm annoyed by him now doesn't mean I won't work with him," Riri said. "I'm in." "Me too," RJ groaned, getting back on his feet. "Wow, Juan is popular," Adam stated. "No he's not, he just knows all the locations of every boot camp in the world," Darrian said. "I never knew there would be so many," Gavin said. "They stationed them everywhere ever since WWII," a cadet named Mush from India said. "So where is this battle?" a cadet named Lucy from Canada asked. "Axlerod is planning on taking his entire army to Los Angeles, California," Finn stated. "Cool, will we have time to see the Hollywood sign before he attacks?" asked a cadet from China named Chu. "Cadet Chu!" his commander, Gabe snapped. "I was kidding…mostly," Chu defended. "Please tell me you vehicles have come up with a plan," a Creed kid named Lorenzo pleaded. "We were just about to go over them, but first, we need to get some more cars to help, and we know just the ones," Lightning said.

Chap. 19: In L.A, the Lemons had arrived on their boats to the coasts, and they brought the portal with them in case of a quick getaway. "Ah, what the perfect day to take over the world," Axlerod stated. "With those agents and imports driving for their lives, what could possibly stop us now?" Zundapp said. "Nobody, that's who," the Black Lord said. Just then, the sound of approaching engines came into earshot and before anyone knew, Lightning McQueen and Boost came to screeching halts no more than 20 yards away from the villains. "Ah, Lightning McQueen, Boost, I thought I'd see you here, and your friends have made a drive for it, I trust?" Axlerod sneered. "No, actually," Lightning said. "We've come to take you down once and for all," Boost snarled. "Oh really, that's funny. There's thousands of us and two of you," Acer laughed. "Oh, is there?" Lightning asked. Then everyone heard the sound of tons of approaching vehicles either from cars, trucks or motorcycles. Then, the Lemon army saw a humongous group of vehicles and humans, all armed with weapons. "Me and my big fat bumper," Acer muttered. "ATTACK!" Lightning shouted. "ATTACK!" Juan jumped in. "COUNTER-ATTACK!" Zundapp commanded. "COUNTER-ATTACK!" Travis threw in. The two armies charged toward each other, some of the cars, mostly the military vehicles, opened fire on the Lemons. Lightning wove his way through the battle, to see how he could help. Out of the corner of his windshield, the race car could see Sara riding on top of Frank the Combine, chasing some Gremlins and Trunkovs that were dumb enough to get in his way. Out of the other corner, Lightning could see a shaking mailbox. He drove over to it and knocked it over and saw Gavin tumble out. "Gavin! What are you doing?" Lightning asked the teen. "Hiding!" Gavin stated. "Hiding, what? Why? We need you!" Lightning said. "Juan's right, hiding from a battle is what I do best, and it always will be," Gavin said. "No it isn't. You blew up the school once, remember?" Lightning stated. "On accident! And also, that was before I became a hippie," Gavin corrected the car. "So was your father, but he fought against the Black Lord's gang as a ghost, I'm pretty sure you can fight as well." Gavin looked at the battle ground to see his friends in the battle, fighting all the Lemons. He also noticed some of his other friends, Charlotte, Jack, James and Stephanie were fighting too. "Do you want to let your friends fight without you? They may not look it, but they could still need help," Lightning said. Gavin took another look at the fight and nodded. "What can I do?" Gavin asked. "You could be a medic, fight up close with a gun, or you could help some of the cadets with some explosives; Charlotte is there too," Lighting suggested. "I'll help Charlotte, mainly because I don't know how to help a car or use a gun!" Gavin ran to where Charlotte was. Lightning drove in another direction to find out if anyone needed help. At the safe buildings Finn mentioned earlier, tons of the residents of Los Angeles were being evacuated by the police. There were these wall-mounted monitors where any cars who wanted to could watch the battle commence. One of the cars was a familiar light green Shyster Kremlin covered bumper to bumper with stickers and a black mustache grill. "This is crazy," Chick Hicks muttered as he and his pit crew watched the fight. "Hey!" exclaimed Bruiser Bukowski, one of the forklifts, pointing at the screen as Guido came into view. "That's the forklift that did the world's fastest pit stop! What's he doing there?" "He's probably helping the good guys win the battle, he is Lightning McQueen's friend," said Junior, the #8 race car. Guido was making his way through the battlefield along with one of Dinoco's forklifts named Luke Pettlework and one of Francesco's forklifts named Fernando. "Where now, Signore Guido?" asked Fernando. "(Left,)" Guido replied, pointing his lifter to the left. He turned toward that direction with Luke and Fernando following close behind. They went around a corner to see a big lift loader parked in their way. "Where do you shrimps think you're going?" asked Muggsy Liftsome. "We're dead," Fernando said, trembling at the sight of how big Muggsy's lifters were. Guido didn't even flinch at the sight of the huge forklift and whipped out his electric wrench, and drove toward Muggsy. "What do you want, tiny?" Muggsy sneered. Guido didn't say anything, he just drove around Muggsy very fast that he was a blur, undoing the bolts on his tires, removing them, and then he tossed the wrench aside and used his lifters to tip over the lift loader. Chick Hick's pit crew once again lost their mustaches at the sight of what Guido had done. "How'd he do that?" Bruiser had to know. "How'd you do that?" Muggsy asked the blue forklift, just as shocked. Guido just drove off with Fernando and Luke. "Hey, don't leave me here!" Liftsome hollered. Chick wasn't that impressed by the small forklift's actions and just looked at the other monitors until he saw the King on one of them. "What the-What is the King doing there! He's old!" Chick exclaimed. "Nobody's too old to fight Chick, that's what one of my uncles told me," Misti Motorkrass, the #73 race car stated. Chick Hicks grumbled at her comment and went back to watching the action. Back on the battlefield, Harold was riding around on his motorcycle, trying not to get hurt or killed. He turned around a corner and crashed into Petrov Trunkov. "Stupid human!" he snarled, knocking Harold of his motorbike and started to crush it with his tires. "My bike!" Harold cried. "You're next!" Petrov snarled. Harold jumped to his feet and ran away from the Lemon car. Petrov gunned it and went after the teen. It went on like this to the point until Harold wanted to stop, but he knew if he did, the Trunkov would run him over. Then he heard an engine on approach and looked to his left to see Francesco driving alongside him. "Harold! Grab my spoiler!" the Formula FB1 race car shouted. Harold grabbed Francesco's spoiler and held on as the race car sped away from Petrov. Through the battle field, Harold noticed he wasn't the only Saturday racer to team up with a World Grand Prix race car; he was Samira working Carla Veloso, Jason Baraclaugh fighting alongside Shu Todoroki, Bryan Centavo partnered up with Miguel Camino, Greg Harland with Raoul ÇaRoule, Conner Anderson teaming up with Jeff Gorvette, Brad Landis working with Nigel Gearsly, Elijah Wilson with Lewis Hamilton, Derek Tobias partnered up with Max Schnell, and Ali Aare with Rip Clutchgoneski. He also noticed they lost their motorcycles as well, and as far as he could tell, Dylan Barnes, Leo, and Trenton were the only racers that hadn't lost their yet.

Chap. 20: Back at the safe building, some more cars were driving inside when a female car screamed "MY DAUGHTER IS MISSING!" "What was her name mam?" Marco Axelbender asked. "Coriander Widetrack, she's a little pink car with a jet fighter antennae ball," Mrs. Widetrack described. "Don't worry, mam, she probably went in ahead of you and is already inside, we just got to find her," Marco told the car. Chick Hicks, who overheard, went back to watching the monitor when he noticed a little pink Capital Motors car driving around the battleground, looking a little lost. "There she is, why isn't anybody helping her?" he asked. "They're probably too occupied with the battle to notice," Junior suggested. "I'm not," Chick said before speeding out of the building. "Boss! What are you doing?" Bruiser asked. "Something I should have done hours ago," Chick stated. His pit crew looked at each other before saying heck with at going after him. The other Piston Cup race cars and pit crews glanced at each other before doing the same thing. Chick sped into the battle and looked around to see if he could find Coriander, when he got shoved into a wall by a Pacer. He was trapped between the wall and old car until Todd "the Shockster" Marcus pushed the Lemon away. Chick went back to searching for Coriander until he finally found her hiding in an alley. He drove in and asked "Are you Coriander Widetrack?" The little car nodded fearfully. "Come with me, your mother's worried about you," Chick stated. He led Coriander out of the alley and out of the battle to the safe building. They were almost there when Grem and Acer blocked their path. "Where do you think you're going race car?" Grem sneered. "Your mother's house, no wait it's your sister's. I can never tell them apart these days," Chick said sarcastically. Grem charged at the Shyster Kremlin, in an attempt to ram him into a wall, but Chick countered by doing a donut and hitting Grem right on the fender, sending him tumbling into a wall dented all over and twisted tires. Acer was stunned by the sudden attack, allowing Chick the chance to ram the Pacer into another wall, causing a few dents in the process. "Come on, Coriander," Chick said to the kid car. He led her back to the safe building where Marco spotted him. "I don't believe it! It's Chick Hicks, and he has Coriander with him!" he gasped. The other cars looked to see the light green race drive into the building with Coriander where Mrs. Widetrack sped over to her. "Coriander! I'm so happy you're okay! Never do that again!" she sobbed. "I'm okay, mommy. This race car helped me," Coriander piped up. Mrs. Widetrack looked at Chick, surprised, but she managed to say "Thank you, Mr. Hicks." "You're welcome," Chick said, before speeding back to the battle. Meanwhile, Sheriff was going through the heat of the battle, trying to find any civilians that needed help. Then, he glanced into his mirror to see J. Curby Gremlin and some of his Gremlins going after him. Sheriff drove away from them as fast as he could, trying not to get caught and bust a gasket at the same time. Then, he ran over a glass bottle, which caused his tire to pop. Now was the end of him. Yasin ran over to him with Stacy, the Leakless forklift with her wrench and a new tire. The Lemons were about 20 yards away from collision and finishing off the Mercury Police Cruiser, human, and Nemomatic forklift for good when, suddenly, the Tuner Gang blocked their path. "Get out of our way you import punks!" J. Curby snapped. Boost glanced back at his friends and Sheriff before glaring at the purple Gremlin, saying "I don't think so." The tricked out cars charged at the Gremlins, ramming them and denting each of them badly to the point when one of them decided to shout "Retreat!" and drive away from the battle. Stacy had just finished replacing Sheriff's tire and the cop car drove up to Boost. "Thanks son, I owe you one," he said. "Don't make us heroes, dude. Anyone could have done it and we just wanted to tell those damn Gremlins to step off," Boost said. He and the rest of the Tuner Gang drove off to see if anyone else needed their assistance.

Chap. 21: Lightning was still trying to find Sir Axlerod when he met up with Leo, Mater, Trenton, and Travis, who was standing on Mater's hood. "Any idea where Axlerod is?" Lightning asked his friends. "Nope, we've looked everywhere, except the building where the C.H.R.O.M.E portal is in front of," Travis stated. "Then I think that building is our best bet," Lighting concluded. The group of 5 drove to a big warehouse where the portal was sitting in front of and entered. Juan and Dylan Barnes saw them drive inside and went after them. The Condrey saw them as well and rode their motorbikes into the building. Francesco and Harold entered the warehouse through another entrance. Chick Hicks, seeing the first few enter the building, sped after them. The cars and humans went up the many ramps to the top floor where they burst in through different doors into a room where Axlerod was fiddling with a white box-like object. "Don't move Axlerod!" They all shouted at the same time. Then they realized who else was in the room. "Harold?" Leo said. "Leo?" Harold replied. "Milly?" Juan said. "Juan?" Milly replied. "Travis?" Kassie said. "Kassie?" Travis replied. "McQueen?" Chick said. "Chick?" Lightning said. "I don't-a know what's going on here," Francesco said. Nobody expected to see anyone else in the warehouse. "While you're all busy being confused, I'm just going to leave," Axlerod said, driving out of the room through another door. "He's getting away!" Darren shouted. "After him!" Trenton commanded. The cars and teens went after the villain as fast as their tire or feet could carry them. They chased the old Bradford Axlerod car throughout the building until at one point, Chick got a closer at the white blocks that he noticed were spread-out the place. He saw a very conspicuous C-4 symbol. "Bombs! Axlerod rigged the house with bombs!" Chick hollered. Everyone heard him shout the word bomb and Juan noticed another explosive nearby. "We got to get out of here before the building blows!" he warned everyone. The group continued to speed through the warehouse, trying to find the quickest way out. Little did they know Axlerod had found his way out and had the controls for the bombs with him. "Farewell, Lightning McQueen and friends," he laughed, before pressing one of the buttons with his tire. The explosive on the top floor blew up, shaking the premises. "What was that?" Harold asked, jumped by the small quake. Then there was another explosion and part of the ceiling collapsed just down the hallway. "The bombs, they're going off!" Juan shouted. "Let's get out of here!" The cars and teens sped down hallway after hallway, trying to find a way out until they saw the front entrance wide open. "There's our exit!" Dylan shouted. But just when they were only 12 yards away from getting out, Axlerod pressed another button and a bomb above the door went off, causing the ceiling near it to cave in and block the entrance. "The exit!" Milly shrieked. "We're dead now!" Harold cried. Then, a few more explosives went off, causing the building to fall down around their ears or mirrors. Everyone scattered to different rooms, except Trenton, who just stood there as the warehouse came crashing down around him. He thought Harold was right; they were all indeed dead. Back outside, the armies of cars and humans started to notice the building starting to fall down. They all gathered around to watch in horror as it collapsed to nothing but a pile of rubble. "I just got word from Marco, he said there were some cars in there," Yasin said. "Who?" Finn asked the boy. "Lightning, Mater, Travis, Leo, Trenton, the Condrey Gang, Francesco, Harold, Juan, Dylan, and Chick Hicks," Yasin stated. "MATER!" Holley shouted. "LIGHTNING!" Sally screamed. "LEO! TRAVIS! TRENTON!" Kendra cried. "JUAN!" Darrian shouted, attempting to run into the building and rescue her brother, but Riri and Commander Gabe held her back. "Are you crazy? We don't know what else is in there!" Riri snapped. "PLEASE COME OUT AND TELL US YOU'RE ALL OKAY!" Gavin pleaded. "They're dead you twits," Axlerod sneered. "You did this?" Boost questioned. "Yes, I planted C-4 all over the premises and set them to blow with this controller. Your friends are all gone," Axlerod sneered, pushing the remote near Boost, revealing the all the buttons had been pressed. "Those stupid cars and ridiculous human teenagers you care about are gone forever, including that idiotic Condrey girl." "That girl has a name and it's Jasmine, and she's not as idiotic as you think. She was the one who talked me into changing sides," Boost told the villain. "And what? You're friends now? All because she made you change sides for she lost her father like you lost your sister, Speedy," Axlerod said. "How do you know about my sister?" Boost questioned. "I read about her in the newspaper. Coincidently, I met a little car like her the night before that looked like her, she seemed upset about not having headlights, so I thought it'd be hilarious if I told her that a major accomplish of a headlight-less car is to navigate through some dense and dark woods without lights, and she fell for it and went and did it. What a pathetic and stupid little car she was!" Axlerod laughed. "Don't insult my sister!" Boost snarled, revving his engine and charging toward Sir Axlerod, but Lemon Leader stopped the import by slamming his tire on his hood. "If you try to attack me, I'll see to it that you suffer the same way your sister: all dented and oil-less," Axlerod threatened. Boost struggled to break free from the evil car's grip, but he knew it'd be useless. But he also knew that his friends had to be alive.

Chap. 22: Inside the ruins of the building, Trenton was lying under a ledge of rubble and he opened his eyes to check out his surroundings. "Wow, heaven looks a lot like the ruins of a building," he thought. Then he realized that he was in the ruins of the warehouse. He remembered what happened a few moments earlier and crawled out of the pieces of concrete. He looked around, trying to find his friends, but only found his motorcycle in a mangled mess. He continued to walk around the rubble, trying to find an exit, until he noticed part of a hole that lead outside. He pulled some pieces away to make the hole bigger, but instead cause the wall of crumbled building to collapse, taking everyone by surprise, including Axlerod, who released Boost. Trenton slowly emerged from the ruins in one piece, and immediately, he was swarmed by his friends from Sun Springs. "Trenton! You're alright! Where are the others?" Kendra asked. "I don't know, before the building fell, they all scattered in different directions," Trenton explained. "Okay, so maybe one of them survived, but that doesn't mean the others did!" Axlerod snapped. "It wouldn't hurt to check," Snot Rod said, speeding through the new doorway, into the ruins. "Hey! Don't go in there! Wait for me!" RJ shouted, chasing the Bragatron car. The duo searched tunnel after tunnel trying to find their lost friends, shouting "Milly! Jasmine! Lightning! Juan! You here!" After at least half an hour, they were about to give up, but Snot Rod shouted one more time. "YO! ISN'T ANYONE HER!" Then, he and RJ heard a groan that was nearby. They turned around to see none other than Chick Hicks trapped under a support beam. "Chick Hicks! We'll get you out of there as fast as we can," RJ said as he and Snot Rod were about to assist the race car. "Don't bother, if I die, nobody will miss me, and if I live nobody will care, I've done too many bad things in my past to be missed," Chick said. "Yeah, I saw that in the Cars movie, but you could change," RJ said. "What makes you think that?" Chick asked the teen. "I know some kids who were nearly as bad as you, but they changed within one day, all because of something a red race car said to them," RJ explained. "I used to cause mayhem on the Interstate with my friends and caused more trouble when we started to work for Sir Axlerod, then, we locked up those same teens and they consoled Boost into being good," Snot Rod added. "Listen, it wasn't too late for them, or for you, because you're younger, but I know it's too late for me," Chick said negatively. "It's never too late," RJ stated. "Do you still want to die?" Chick was still silent for a few minutes before saying. "Fine, get me out of here." RJ used all his strength to lift the support beam, releasing the race car. "And besides, if you were bad, you wouldn't have come to help us and help Coriander Widetrack get to safety," RJ pointed out. "How do you know about that?" Chick had to know. "I saw you with her." Chick looked at the teen surprised before saying "Let's see if we can find any other survivors." The group of three continued on their way through the crumbled warehouse until they found Jasmine, Kassie, Darren, Milly and Dylan sitting around some mangled motorbikes. "Milly!" Snot Rod exclaimed. "Snot Rod!" Milly squealed, running over to the import. "You kids okay?" RJ asked. "We're fine, but we don't know where the others are," Jasmine said. "I know where Francesco and Harold are, but their trapped," Dylan admitted. "Show us where," Chick said. Dylan led everyone to a part of the ruins that had a doorway that was blocked by various support beams that were stacked horizontally. "Harold, you still in there?" Dylan asked. "Yeah, can't exactly go anywhere," Harold sneered. "How will we get them out?" Darren asked. "I know, tie some rope to the beams and get me and Chick to pull it out of place," Snot Rod suggested. "Sounds good, but there is a risk that the entire area could collapse, crushing us all," Dylan warned. "I have an idea; RJ, Jasmine, lift up one of the lower beams so Harold can slip out," Milly said. RJ and Jasmine gripped the bottom beam and lifted it up. "Okay Harold, crawl through," Milly said. Within moments, the teen crawled out through the hole. He stood up and asked "How do we get Francesco our?" "Kassie, Darren and Dylan, lift the second beam. You and me can lift up the top one," Milly said. The teens got to work and managed to lift the beams up high enough for Francesco to drive through, or it seemed. The Formula car slowly rode through the doorway when he spoiler got stuck on the top beam. "Help! I'm-a stuck!" he shrieked. "Relax, your spoiler just got caught on the beam," Chick said, using his hood to push the beam up a few inches higher, allowing Francesco to drive out completely. Francesco was free! "You two get out of here and get the others in here to help us find the others; I'm pretty sure they're all alive," Chick ordered. "No way! We want to help!" Harold protested. "And why would we listen to you? You're known for cheating!" "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if a cheater in my dimension looked to you for reference to cheat in the motorcycle races we had on Saturdays," Dylan added. "Sí! Lightning McQueen-a told me about you…not exactly told me, more like warned me," Francesco snarled. "Yeah, we also know about your 'students', Switcher, Candice, Stinger and El Machismo," Harold added. "Didn't anyone tell you to not hold grudges? Listen, hear me out!" Chick pleaded. "I used to be a good car when I was young, but my dad said my family was a family of winners. That we don't have time to help cars of lower levels, saying they would drag me down and said to me to win at all costs. He taught me to race and to cheat, and I got so used to following in his footsteps that it had become part of me, but I can change!" "Where's your dad now Chick?" Jasmine asked. "He died a few years back," Chick stated. "Then you don't have to listen to him anymore! You don't have to use your bad attitude to get ahead in life. Only kindness and care will! Not violence or hate! There's a place in hell for cars that are like him, and I know you don't want to end up there. Nobody does and I think you still have a chance to do some good things again," Jasmine consoled the race car. "Did Lightning tell you that?" Chick grumbled. "Some of it, but the rest I heard my dad tell some boys who were picking on me and my sisters and brother. One of those guys was this guy," Jasmine said, pointing at RJ. "And I regret that, but I'm telling you, that was mostly my brother and his friends, I just got dragged along," RJ admitted. Francesco and Harold still didn't trust Chick Hicks, and they didn't even try to hide it. They gang continued on their way to find the rest of the missing cars and teens. Chick noticed that Francesco and Harold kept giving him looks that clearly said "I don't trust you at all." He just ignored them as RJ started to call out the teens' names. "Travis! Leo! Juan!" "Lightning! Mater!" Jasmine hollered. "McQueen! Tow truck!" Francesco and Chick called out at the same time. The Italian race car did a 180° and glared at the Shyster Kremlin. "I'll call to Lightning McQueen-a and his friend!" he snarled. "Oh come on, I'm pretty sure McQueen would reply to me as much as he would you," Chick argued. "No, he'll reply to me because I don't-a flip over legendary cars," Francesco bit back. He sped ahead of everyone and away from Chick. Chick was shocked; it seemed like every race car was giving him the cold fender, and Francesco didn't even have any! Chick caught up to him. "I'll have you know, pal, I saved a kid from trouble by getting her to safety, and she was right in the battlefield! I also dealt with these two old cars you called Lemons and I used my flipping techniques to take them out," the car told the other car. Francesco turned around to face the Kremlin again. "I have one word for you, Signore Hicks. I'm pretty sure you know it," Francesco said. "Really, what?" Chick asked, not really interested. "SILENCE!" Francesco shouted loud enough for his voice to echo throughout the ruins and for the cars and humans outside to hear, and also Lightning, Mater, Leo, Travis, and Juan. "That sounded like Francesco," Leo said. "And he doesn't sound happy," Lightning added. "Francesco! Are you around here?" Lightning hollered. "Aha! McQueen is behind the wall!" Francesco exclaimed. "Guys, you out there?" Travis asked. "Yeah, and we'll get you out of there as soon as we can," Harold said. "Are the others with you?" Mater asked. "Everyone except you 5," Chick said. "Chick?" Lightning said. "Oh great! They brought the cheater with them! Why didn't you leave him where you found him?" Juan sneered. Chick's mouth dropped open in shock. The teen judged him so quickly. "Oh, burn," Harold laughed. "Relax, Juan, he's on our side. He's a good car, but he's just misunderstood," Milly stated. "That is such a load of sh-!" Juan started to shout when Kassie cut him off saying "Don't you dare say that, Juan Joseph Joenns!" Chick, having enough of all the hatred, finally snapped. "Listen, I had to get out here to help some kid get to the safe building! I had to deal with an orange Gremlin and light green Pacer! I caused the other Piston Cup race cars and pit crews, including mine to join in the battle! And this is the thanks I get!" The room went silent as Chick's voice echoed throughout the ruins, and once again, the bystanders outside heard. "You helped a little girl?" Mater was surprised by that. "Yes, she got separated from her mother and needed help to get to safety before a Lemon car killed her," Chick explained furiously. "But none of you even give a damn about that!" "Well, I give a damn about it, and I think that was brave and selfless of you to do that," Jasmine said. "I'd have to agree," Leo said. "It's good to hear that bad cars are becoming good." "Wow! Jasmine is converting cars wherever she goes!" Mater exclaimed. "Yep, but me and Snot Rod told him it's not too late to change his ways. Believe this or not, he wanted us to leave him to die under a pile of rubble," RJ added. "And he helped get Francesco out when his spoiler got caught on a support beam me and Harold were struggling with," Milly added. "So if he's so 'helpful', how will he get us out?" Juan asked. "Where are you?" RJ asked. "Behind this wall where my voice is louder," Juan stated. "Juan, we can't tell, we can hear your voice very clearly no matter where we are," Milly joked. "We're going to need a lot of hammers or a small explosive to take out this wall," Harold sighed sadly. "No we don't," Chick said, backing up toward a wall and revved his engine loudly before speeding toward the opposing wall, crashing through it in one go, denting his bumper and hood a little in the process. "Nice trick," Travis commented, a little jumped by the surprise move. "Let's get out here before this building comes crashing down around out mirrors or ears," Lightning said. The group raced out of the area as fast as they could.

Chap. 23: The cars and teens went through the ruins the way they came before the warehouse came all the way down. When the group finally got out, they were greeted by thousands of cheers. "JUAN!" Darrian, Anna, Sela, and Cydney squealed happily when they saw their brother in one piece and ran over to hug him. "Stickers!" Sally exclaimed, driving over to her boyfriend. "Mater!" Holley added going over to the tow truck. The other cars and teens close who knew them very well went over to greet them. "Jasmine! Kassie! Darren! Milly! Snot Rod!" Boost exclaimed as he, Wingo and DJ sped over to their gangsta friends. "Is that-?" Riri was about to ask when she saw Chick Hicks. "Yep," Juan said, breaking free from his sisters. "Don't worry, commander, he's alright." He muttered to her quickly before she jumped to assumptions. "I don't understand! How can you be alive?" Axlerod questioned. "Because we're brave, unlike you," Chick snarled at the British car. All the cars were surprised by Chick's sudden comeback at Axlerod, except for RJ and the Condrey Gang who snickered at all the shocked faces. "Give up, Axlerod, you're outnumbered," Lightning said. Sir Axlerod did a 360° and saw that the race car was right; he and his army were surrounded by race cars, imports, military vehicles, forklifts and teenagers. Before he could surrender, the ground began to shake violently. Everyone stiffened with fear and some of the humans stumbled to the ground. "Are earthquakes in L.A normally this violent?" Juan asked. Holley turned on her holographic pop-up display and checked. "According to my calculations…no, it shouldn't have been. It was a nearly a magnitude of 12!" she stated. "That's worse than the earthquake in San Francisco in 1906!" Aneil exclaimed. Everyone gasped. "And to make it worse, Los Angeles wasn't the only place to feel it; countries all over the world felt it: Japan, Italy, Brazil, Spain, France, Germany, you name it," Holley added. "You mean Atlantis felt that!" Travis exclaimed. "I'm not sure if that place exists, but if it does, then yes!" Holley said. "Four of those countries have never gotten an earthquake, this is starting to get weird," Aneil stated. "How about scary, Aneil, can this be scary while we're at it," Iralanda said. Then there was another quake shook the city again, but it seemed worse and lasted longer. "It hit the 14 mark now!" Holley stated. "They're getting worse!" Harold shouted. "But what's causing them?" Finn asked. Then, everyone heard fiendish laugh from somewhere. The Black Lord made his way through the front. "Did you have something to do with this?" Lightning questioned. "Not exactly just me, more like all the humans in this dimension at the moment," the Black Lord snarled. Everyone gasped. "How did we have something to do with this?" Leo asked. "It's simple, really; the cars have been coming to our world for years, no problem with that, but if it's vice versa and too many humans at once, then there's trouble. The portals have caused an imbalance between the two worlds, which could end up destroying both," the Black Lord explained. "If the humans go home to their dimension, then the human world is okay, but the Cars world will eventually fall apart." "What will we do?" Kendra asked. "Don't worry, I saw this coming, you kids go home and we'll do the rest!" Finn ordered. "But that will take forever! There are so many of us from so many different places," Adam complained. "Just take everyone to Sun Springs, it will be easier," Finn suggested. The spy car activated the C.H.R.O.M.E portal and picked the dirt track just outside Sun Springs where the Saturday races were. "Okay, everybody through the portal as fast as you can," Finn ordered. The teens jumped into the portal, getting transported back to the human world. The second to last person was none other than the Black Lord, who jumped in before the last person could kick him through. Leo was the last teen, but before he left, he took one last look at the Cars world and at his friends and gave a small wave, before leaving. After he jumped through, Finn shut down the machine and commanded "Everyone! To the safe buildings!" The army of car sped over to the safe buildings. On their way, Lightning began to notice that the sky was starting to turn into a deep crimson red. He knew that was a bad thing and gunned it. When they arrived, Finn asked Marco "Are all the civilians inside?" "Yes, Mr. McMissile. They're all checked and accounted, they wouldn't be if Mr. Hicks hadn't found Coriander Widetrack," Marco stated. Francesco did yet another 180° to face Chick. "Well, it-a seems like you were telling the truth," the Formula car said. "When have I ever lied about something like that?" Chick said, but he reflected on his past and realized that he had lied in the past. "One second thought, don't answer that," he added quickly added. "Places in the building everyone!" Finn shouted. "Holley set the destination for the human world." "The human world? Why there, Finn?" Lightning asked. "It's the only place that we'll adapt quickly, but we'll set you and your friends' special destinations," Finn explained. "Special destinations?" Lightning said confused until he remembered Sun Springs. "I hope that's what he means," he thought. "Everyone hang on!" Finn shouted. Holley pressed a button and the building began to shake. Lightning took one final look at his home world, just when it started to flame up and approach the safe buildings.

Chap. 24: Back in the Human world, the teens had just gotten home and were all pacing around the dirt track, well some of them were; the military kids were running laps around it for they missed a whole day of training and needed the exercise. Leo, Kendra, and Travis went back to Juan's basement to retrieve Lightning's jacket, Sally's blazer, and Mater's jacket. The three teens looked at them sadly, thinking that their friends were gone forever. A few moments later, Juan, Gavin, Amy, Christopher, Yasin, Jasmine, Kassie, Darren, Milly, Trenton, Iralanda, Aneil Adam, Harold, Quinton, Kelly, Darrian, RJ, Riri, and Sara went down, with the same sad expressions on their faces. The kids walked up to the café and got something to eat and drink, they were about to eat when they noticed something glowing in the streets. "Dad!" Kelly shouted. All the parents raced out of their shops to see what was going on and were shocked to see so many lights in the street. "What's going on?" Mr. Mohamet asked Yasin. "I don't know, dad, but it's cool!" Yasin exclaimed. Then, a bunch of people started to appear right before their eyes. "Is that-?" Leo asked when he saw a person with red hair. When they were all done teleporting into the human world, the teens discovered that the people were Lightning, Sally, Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Guido, Luigi, Lizzie, Red, Sheriff, Holley, Finn, Boost, Wingo, DJ, Snot Rod, Chick Hicks, Francesco Bernouli, the WGP racers, the King, Lynda Weathers, Mia, Tia, Mack and the pit crews, who all fell to the ground. "Oh no, not this again," Juan groaned. "We'll need three hospitals to hold this many people," Gavin complained. "Not necessarily," Adam said. He walked up to Mr. and Mrs. Watson. "I need as many buckets of ice cold water as you can give me," he ordered. At the sound of that, Guido jumped to his feet, shouting "(I'M AWAKE! DON'T SPLASH ME!)" "What's splashing?" Francesco asked the once-forklift. Adam then splashed a full bucket of ice-cold water all over Francesco, making the once-formula car jump to his feet. "That's-a too cold!" he shrieked. "Well it has to be cold if you can stay cool out in this entire heat," Adam said. Slowly, Lightning, Mater, Sally, Sarge, Fillmore, Red, Lizzie, Sheriff, Luigi, Holley, and Finn got to their feet. "McQueen, how did you that?" Chick Hicks asked, still lying on the ground. Lightning and Leo walked over to the once-race car and helped him stand up. "It looks hard," Leo started. "But it's actually pretty easy," Lightning finished. The other teens showed up into the town and helped everyone else stand up and taught them to walk. "Wow, we're all…human," Chick said, looking at his reflection in the aluminum cover of a car with all the paint stripped of. He had short black hair and mustache, brown eyes, fair skin, a light green jacket covered in advertisements for different products he had when he was a car, along with his racing number, 86, and his sponsor, htB, green pants, black sneakers and a white tee. "Never thought I'd look this weird as a human," Chick said. "According to my files, you're based off the leader of a biker gang from the 60s named Spike Carper," Holley stated. "Oh I knew him! He used to stop by Sun Springs every time he and his gang came to Star City," Lydia said. "He isn't one of your exes, is he?" Amy asked. "Well…" Lydia said. "RUN! She's going to tell a story about her love life!" Amy warned, hobbling away from her grandmother. Lydia shook her head, but she was laughing. "Is that the Black Lord?" Mrs. Camilo asked. "Yessiree! In the flesh!" Mater exclaimed. "Well, now since you brought him back, I guess I can arrest him," Mr. Mohamet said. "No, give me and my siblings a few moments," Jasmine said as she, Kassie, Darren and Milly swaggered over to the gangster. "What? You here to forgive me for what I did to your father?" the Black Lord sneered. "HELL NO!" the Condrey exclaimed. Jasmine pulled back her hand and slapped the mobster hard on the cheek. Kassie went next before he had a chance to fight back and hit him harder than her sister did. Then Darren went up and slapped him harder than Kassie did. Finally, Milly went up. "Ha! You can't do anything, you're a shrimp," the Black Lord mocked. "Oh really," Milly said, doing a neck-roll like Tyra Banks. Then she pulled back her right hand toward her left and slapped the Black Lord so hard with the back of her hand, she knocked him to the ground. "You little-!" the gangster snarled, trying to get back on his feet to beat the girl, but Mr. Mohamet and Sheriff held him back. "Where did you learn to pimp slap?" Darren asked his younger sister. "Gangsta video games," Milly stated. Meanwhile, Mr. Jago had found Aneil among the crowd and found him in the middle of it all. "I don't understand how a stupid, ignorant, and un-clever boy like you survive a battle like that!" He snapped. "How did you live?" Aneil thought about an answer until he remembered what Chick Hicks said to Axlerod earlier. "Because I'm brave, father, unlike you," he said. Mr. Jago's eyes widened in fury and he raised his hand, ready to inflict harm on the boy. Aneil's eyes widened in fear knowing all too well that this would hurt more than his normal beatings. Guido, seeing the boy in distress, went into action and did something he had been wanting to do ever since he learned about what Mr. Jago did; he ran over and grabbed Mr. Jago's raised arm, holding him back from hitting Aneil. The man turned around and socked Guido right on the nose, knocking him to the ground and making his nose bleed. Seeing the entire, Mr. Joenns, Sarge, Sheriff, and Luigi started to run over. Mr. Jago ran away from them, trying to get away with his crime, but he glanced back once to see how far he went and looked forward to run into Snot Rod; he had short black hair, green eyes, brown skin, and was wearing an orange hoodie, blue jeans, orange sneakers and had a gold chain necklace. Mr. Jago fell back to the ground and looked at Snot Rod full of fear as Snot Rod looked down at him threateningly. Mr. Jago had been afraid of T.J Condrey and Snot Rod was no different from him as far as he could tell. That gave Sheriff the chance to handcuff him without getting hit. "Good job, Snot Rod," Sheriff said. "What'd I do, all I did was just glare at Mr. Jago for bumping into me," Snot Rod admitted. "Do you need a tissue?" Aneil asked. "No, I think Jago broke his nose," Dr. Garwood said, walking up to the duo. "Come into my office and I'll get a look at it." Guido nodded and followed the good doctor to the building. Just then a guy who looked like he was in his teens, but about Darrian's age, drove up into the town on a blue motorized scooter, and watched as Mr. Jago got put into a police cruiser. He walked up to Aneil, still wearing his helmet and said "Wow, I see the cops are already taking him away." "Yep, and the Black Lord as well," Aneil added. "They finally got him! Far out!" the guy exclaimed. "Excuse me, but, who are-a you?" Luigi asked. The guy took off his helmet, revealing that he had black, spikey hair with dark blue streaks in it, and resembled Aneil a little. "Gan!" Aneil exclaimed. "You're back!" "Yeah, I didn't like Detroit as much as I thought I would," Gan said. "Detroit! Did you get me a souvenir?" Aneil asked. "If I tell you no, will you hit me?" Gan asked first. "Iralanda, make sure Gan stays where he is while I get a broom to beat him with," Aneil told the Italian girl. "Yes sir, Signore Jago," she replied. "I cannot-a believe I am no longer a car," Francesco said. He had slicked back black hair, fair skin, red eyes, a sleeveless and open jacket colored like the Italian flag, and had green shorts and red sneakers. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it within a week," Lightning said. "Just don't pump gas into your pockets," Leo said. "Why not?" Chick asked. Adam walked up the man and showed him the screen of the camera phone and showed him the video of Mater with his pants on fire. "Got 1,000,000 hits within a week, I called it 'Jackass who lied too much'," Adam said. "Juan has pictures on his Facebook and Twitter." "That looks painful," Chick said, grimacing. "It was painful, but the ratings were great!" Adam exclaimed before walking off. Then, the parents pulled the main heroes aside, saying "You guys agreed to watch our kids for one week, then you put them in grave danger and get them and their friends to fight an army of bad guys within that week," Dr. Garwood said. "Dr. Garwood, we didn't mean to-," Lightning tried to explain. "But you brought them all back in one piece, thank you," Dr. Garwood added quickly. "If there's anything we can do for you, just let us know." "I sure appreciate that, thank you," Lightning said. Then he noticed the teens all moping by the café, most likely about their lost motorcycles. "Actually, there is one thing…" Lightning said.

Chap. 25: The next morning, Lightning and his friends rounded up all the teens that lost their motorbikes the night before and brought them over to an old garage. Leo, Travis, Kendra, Trenton, Gavin, Juan, Iralanda, Aneil, Kelly, Quinton, the Condrey Gang, Adam, Yasin, Christopher, Amy, Sara, Harold and the other Saturday racers were all standing outside, wondering what the deal was. "This had better be good, you interrupted my sleep," Adam snarled. "Don't worry, it will be good," Lightning said. He pressed a button, allowing the garage door to open, revealing a line of motorcycles and motorized scooters. "Oh. My. Goodness!" Kendra squealed. "We all chipped in to buy you all motorcycles to replace the ones you lost yesterday," Lightning said. "You even got some for those of us who didn't even race!" Gavin exclaimed, admiring his tie-dye motorcycle. "Thank you!" Milly screamed, checking out her motorcycle with a shiny new supercharger. "You even removed the fenders on mine," Harold said. "Yes, I noticed that on-a your bike and thought I'd do the same for your new one," Francesco said. "So, is the Saturday race back on?" Lightning asked. "Definitely," Leo said, revving the engine on his new motorcycle. "To celebrate the win of the good guys against the bad, my mom is going to set up a karaoke system the Edmunds had and we're all going to sing tonight," Kelly told everyone. "My parents had a karaoke machine?" Adam asked, clearly surprised. "You mean you didn't know?" Kelly asked the short boy. Adam shook his head no. "Aiy," Kelly muttered hitting her forehead on the handle bars of her motorbike. At the café that night, Adam was looking through the CDs, trying to find a CD to sing to in the karaoke contest. "There's a new one in that stack," Mrs. Edmund stated. She lifted up a case for Adam to see. He gasped and grabbed it out of her hand. Then he hugged her. "Did I ever tell you you're the best mom ever?" Adam asked. "Yes, dozens of times, Adam," Mrs. Edmund stated. "What is it?" Gavin asked. "The Train album with 'Drive By' on it!" Adam exclaimed. "Train?" Holley asked. "It's a band," Kendra explained. "I got my song," Adam said. "No, I got my song," Gavin said, snatching the case from him. "No, I want to sing 'Drive By'!" Aneil said. It didn't take too long for all the teens in Sun Springs and the Saturday racers to start arguing about the song. Finally, Sally decided to put an end to it. "Why don't you all sing it?" she asked. "I like that idea!" Travis agreed. All the teens got on stage and inserted the CD into the machine, and they all took their places. _"On the other side of a street I knew, stood a girl that looked like you," Gavin sang. "I guess that's de ja vu," Iralanda added. "But I thought this can't be true," Leo crooned. "Cause you moved to West L.A., or New York, or Santa Fe," Sela sang. "Or wherever to get away from me," Darren sang. "Oh, but that one night, was more than just right," Milly crooned. "I didn't leave you," Adam added. "Cause I was all through," Travis finished. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Kendra sang. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Amy added. "Because I really fell for you," Quinton sang out loud. "Oh, I swear to ya," Kelly belted out. "I'll be there for you," Yasin added. "This is not a drive by!" Adam shouted. "Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight," Aneil sang like Sinatra. "After I take her home, I-I-I-I-I-I know," Travis jumped back in. "When you're moving," Iralanda sang. "Everything is grooving," Gavin added. "They don't I can sue me," Kassie sang. "Only way that you'd be," Jasmine crooned. "Oh, I swear to ya," Amy sang. "I'll be there for ya," Kendra added. "This is not a drive by!" Sela finished. "On the other side in a downward spiral," Leo sang. "My love for you went viral," Gavin added. "And I loved you for every mile you drove away," Aneil crooned. "Now here you are again," Adam sang. "Let's skip to how you've been," Travis added. "And get down to more than friends at last," Iralanda sang. "Oh but that one night, was still a highlight," Juan sang. "I didn't leave you," Cydney jumped. "Until I came to," Kelly sang. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Dylan sang, finally joining in. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Trenton added. "Because I really fell for you." "Oh I swear to you," Aneil crooned, "I'll be there for you." "This is not a drive by," everyone that had been singing sang. "Just a shy guy," Harold added. "Looking for it tonight," RJ sang. "After I take her home," Trenton sang. "I-I-I-I-I-I know!" Amy, Kendra, and Gavin sang. "When you're moving," Yasin, Travis, and Adam sang. "Everything is grooving," Quinton, Milly, Aneil, Leo and Darren chorused. "They don't, I can sue me," Cydney, Harold, and Jasmine sang in unison. "Only way that you'd be," Juan sang "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by," everyone sang in unison. "Please believe, that when I leave," Trenton crooned. "There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you," Aneil added. "And a little time to get my head together too," Travis and Darren added. "On the other side of a street I knew," Leo sang. "Stood a girl that looked like you," Travis added. "I guess that's de ja vu," Gavin sang. "But I thought this can't be true," Iralanda jumped in. "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by! Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight. After I take her home, baby, I-I-I-I-I-I know! When we're moving, everything is grooving, they don't, I can sue me. Only way that you'd be. Oh, I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya! This is not a drive by!" everyone finished. The audience applauded so loud, Lightning swore he felt the building shake. "Well, looks there will be a new era, just not the Chick Era," Chick Hicks said. "Yep, a whole new experience for everybody, I just hope everyone will adapt," Lightning said. "Everyone seems to be getting on well," Sally said pointing at the other once-cars. Some of them were in line for karaoke, some were chatting up other people, and some were just relaxing. "Looks like everything worked out for the best!" Mater cheered. "Lightning, the next race is within a few days and I missed a whole day of no practice!" Leo said, running up to his mentor along with Adam. "We need help!" Adam added frantically. "No problem, I'll help you guys," Lightning said. For the rest of the night, Lightning helped Leo and Adam with their racing questions while the others had help from the WGP racers and the King, which meant one interesting race. What started out as a crazy mission of saving the world and trying to find one villain ended in a remarkable adventure of making new friends and conquering anything no matter what. _

_The End _

82


	2. Chapter 1

Chap. 1: The next morning, in Radiator Springs, the "threats" of Sir Axlerod's plan were all busy in Flo V8 Café, enjoying their morning oil, silently. "Sure is peaceful today," Lightning McQueen stated, breaking the silence. "Maybe, any minute now, those imports, the Tuner Gang, will show up and ruin everything," Sheriff said reminded the race car, even though nobody has seen Boost, Wingo, DJ, or Snot Rod for three days. A lot of the townsfolk began to believe that the troublemakers have left and moved onto another town, but Sheriff was unconvinced that they were gone. "It's odd though. I specifically remember Boost saying something about being back to cause trouble the last time we saw him on Sunday, but it's been three days and he and the Tuner Gang didn't show their hoods at all," Mater said. "Do you think something happened to them?" Flo said. "Maybe, I mean, there are a lot of dangers out here, like falling down a trench, getting stuck in silt, getting lost, running out of gas," Sally suggested. "Maybe we should look for them," Ramone said. "That will not be necessary, I don't want those import punks to think that we actually care about them," Sheriff said. Then, the sound of an approaching engine rang out as dust came up the road really fast up the road. "That's probably them right now," Sheriff said, already putting on his police siren. But it wasn't an import; it was a familiar Faultless GT car. "Finn! What are you doing here?" Mater greeted the secret agent. "Sorry for breaking the speed limit, but I have drastic news," Finn McMissile informed the tow truck. "What happened?" Sally had to know. "Is everything okay?" Flo asked. "I'm not sure yet, but it could become life-threatening to every car in the world. I'll explain on the way," Finn told the cars. "Great! I get to be a secret agent again!" Mater cheered. "You won't be the only one, Mater. We're going to need you friends' assistance as well," Finn added. "Us? Why? We're not agents like you," Lightning asked. "After your performance in London, I thought you'd be the right cars to help with the mission," Finn explained to the race car. "What about the town? We cant's just leave it empty like this," Sally said, worried Radiator Springs might disappear off the map again if everyone left. "Do you know anyone who could do the job while you're gone?" Finn asked. "Mia and Tia could work in the café while I'm gone," Flo said. "And a friend of ours, Mrs. Weathers, can manage the Cozy Cone Motel and the Wheelwell Motel," Sally added. "The other places we can close for a while." "Then it's settled, as soon as your friends come here, we can set out to where Siddley is; he's ready for take-off," Finn said. Mia and Tia didn't take long to show up, considering they were already living in the town, and Mrs. The King showed up in no more than an hour, along with her husband, Strip "The King" Weathers. After some brief good-byes, the cars set out to where Siddley was, who was hidden behind a mesa. "Everyone on board. We're going out of the states to the C.H.R.O.M.E Agency HQ in London," Finn stated. All the cars got onto the Glidesworth A113. Red went last, mainly because he was worried he would get stuck and hold everyone up, fortunately that didn't happen. Once the spy plane was in the air and on its way to London, the cars started to ask about what was going on. "Okay, you got us on a spy jet, now explain to us what is going on," Sheriff said. "Nothing good, I'm afraid. It seems our "friends," Professor Zundapp and Sir Miles Axlerod are up to their old tricks again. This time they're planning on taking over the world, but they are being assisted by a group of cars called imports," Finn explained. "Imports! We know what they are. They're cars that modified themselves to look cool and tough. There are four of them that cause trouble in Radiator Springs," Mater exclaimed. Finn got out a hologram machine and pushed a button to turn it on, revealing an image of a familiar Kyoku Jitsu car. "That's Boost, he's been missing from the town for three days, along with his friends, Wingo, DJ, and Snot Rod," Sheriff stated. "Well, now you know what has happened to him," Finn said, flipping to another image of a Reko-do Spinner. "That's DJ, he plays music so loud that I can't hear myself think," Sally stated. The next slide featured a Wingo. [Note: A Wingo is actually a type of car, which is what Wingo, the character in Cars is.] "Wingo, he has enough lights to light up a dark cave," Sarge stated. The last slide showed an orange Bragatron. "That's Snot Rod, whenever he sneezes, fire shoots out of his exhaust pipes, so don't be too close to him during allergy season," Ramone warned. "I don't get it, why would the Lemons get help from cars that work way better than they do?" Lightning asked, as Finn turned the hologram machine. "That's the point. Imports work better than they do, therefore they could use the imports as their strength, but I'm sure Axlerod might get rid of them once they are no longer needed, which the imports are completely oblivious of, but this 'Tuner Gang' won't be the only ones involved in the plan. Sir Axlerod has recruited every import he could find," Finn stated. "What exactly did Axlerod promise them?" Lightning asked. "50% of the land the Lemon's take over, a place for them all to cause mayhem without the police going after them," Finn answered. "Of course," Sheriff muttered. "Why do you need our help?" Mater asked. "I need a suitable group of cars to track down and take down the Black Lord," Finn stated. "The Black Lord! Dad gum!... Who's he?" Mater asked, completely clueless. "He's the United States most feared mafia leader," Finn explained. "Then why haven't we heard of him on the news?" Sarge asked. "Because he does not reside in our dimension, he lives in the human world," Finn stated. "The human world! But I though…" Lightning started to say. "That the human world was something that old cars made up to get young cars to go to sleep at night, no offense, Lizzie, that's what Miss. Shiftwell and I thought until we actually went there ourselves," Finn admitted. "The human world is real! I don't believe it! How will we blend in there?" Sally asked. "It'll be easier if I show you," Finn told her.


	3. Chapter 2

Chap.2: At the C.H.R.O.M.E Agency HQ, all the cars entered the building, where they met up with Holley Shiftwell. "Mater! It's so good to see you again!" the British car greeted the tow truck. "Holley! You never told me you went to the human world!" Mater exclaimed, driving up to his girlfriend. "Finn told you about that already? Yes, I thought if I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Holley said. "Shoot! Of course I'd believe you! I've done some crazy things myself in the past. Did I ever tell you I used to be a bullfighter?" Mater stated. "No, but I'd love to hear that story," Holley said. "Anyway, Finn said he'd be able to explain how we'd blend into the human world once we got here," Lightning said. "Yes, there is something that is activated once you get into the human world. It allows you to transform into a human as long as you're in the human world," Holley explained. "Cool…wait, it doesn't hurt does it?" Mater asked. "No, but it does feel weird," Holley said. "Can the humans do the same when they come to our world?" Lightning asked, interested in the human world. "Actually, they don't even know our world exists. Apparently, our dimension only exists in movies and TV. Like this for example," Holley used her holographic pop-up display to show the cars the image of a movie poster. "What in the…!" Mater exclaimed. It was a cover for the first Cars movie, which doesn't exist in their dimension, and were mortified that they were on it. "What's the plot?" Sally asked. "Hotshot rookie race car Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, is living life in the fast lane until he hits a detour on his way to the most important race of his life. Stranded in Radiator Springs, a forgotten town on the old Route 66, he meets Sally, voiced by Bonnie Hunt, Mater, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, Doc Hudson, voiced by Paul Newman, and a variety of quirky characters who help him discover that there's more to life than trophies and fame. It even includes a mini-film called Mater and the Ghostlight," Holley stated. "Get me a lawyer! These humans had-a no right to invade what happens in our lives!" Luigi snapped. "Are you sure they don't know about our world? The plot seems a little too thorough and similar to what happened when Lightning first got to Radiator Springs," Sally said. "I'm sure. They probably got inspired out of nowhere and wrote it on the spot, with a few deleted scenes that never got animated. And when you mentioned that you were a bullfighter earlier, Mater, it reminded me of this series of 'Cars Toons,' they called them. I have a copy of the cover right here." An image of another DVD cover popped up on the screen. Mater got a surprised look on his face when he saw what it was: It was a cover of Mater's Tall Tales with Mater in character for each of his tall tales on the cover. "Dad gum! Now they're going into my business!" he exclaimed. "According to the summery, the people who wrote these short films described you as lovable and hilarious. I think I agree with them," Holley admitted. "Well, at least they said something nice about me," Mater said proudly. "Which tales of mine do they mention in it?" "Let's see…Mater the Greater, El Materdor, Rescue Squad Mater, U.F.M: Unidentified Flying Mater, Heavy Metal Mater, Monster Truck Mater, Moon Mater, Mater Private Eye, and Tokyo Mater," Holley stated. "Whoa, they got every single one of my tales in that film, well almost all of them," Mater said. "The Pixar company is in the process of making a film called Time-Traveling Mater, which is about you traveling back in time and meeting the founder of Radiator Springs, Stanley," Holley informed. "Now they got all my tales," Mater sighed. "This is an outrage! How could they make these movies to make fun of us?" Sarge barked. "Like I said, the humans made these films out of inspiration from their minds. Even though one of the movies really shocked me and Finn, which is why we went to the human in the first place," Holley stated, as another movie poster popped up on-screen. "Cars 2?" Mater said. "Yes, unfortunately it didn't do as good as John Lasseter, the producer of the Cars movies had hoped," Finn said. "Well that's not good," Mater said. "Yes but, it seems Pixar is starting to lose interest in our world and move onto the world of planes," Holley stated. "What are they going to call that movie?" Lightning asked. "Planes," Holley answered. "(How original,)" Guido said. "Anyway, back to business. Like I said, I'd be able to explain how you'd be able to blend into the human world once we all get there, and, like Miss Shiftwell told you, you will automatically transform into a human once you are there, so, I threw together some human forms for you to use based on people in the human world who had deceased recently," Finn explained. "What if we run into someone who knows the person who died?" Sally asked. "They'll just assume that it was just coincidence, now who wants to see theirs first?" "I'll do it, Finn!" Mater volunteered. The tow truck drove up to the computer monitor as Holley opened up the program with his image as a human on it. It was a human with tan skin, brown hair, buck teeth like his own, a bandage on his nose, a blue shirt, a brown jacket, blue jeans, brown gloves, black boots, and what appeared to be a lasso with a tow hook on the end. "Cool, who do I look like in the human world?" Mater had to know. "A man by the name of Billy Morman, but you don't look too much like him, I changed some things so it would fit you better," "What does mine look like?" Lightning asked. Holley brought up his human image, which was a man with red hair, blue eyes, a white shirt, a red jacket with his lightning bolts, racing number, and sponsor, red pants, black sneakers, and red gloves. "Yours resembles a racer named Luke McKay, only Luke had blonde hair, and his racing number and sponsor were different," Holley told the race car. "Okay, Stickers, my turn," Sally said. Sally's human form had a blue blazer, long blue hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, a light blue tank top, blue capris, and black flats. "Yours looks like a Savannah Betts, who, unlike you, had blonde hair and wore black and white." Red went next. His human appeared to be tall, had red hair, a red long-sleeved shirt, blue pants, and red sneaker. "Richard Upton is who you look like, except Mr. Upton had brown hair and a blue shirt." Sheriff went next. His had graying black hair, a black cop uniform, and a gray mustache. "Arnold Jacobson, an exact copy." Luigi had his turn next. His form had slicked back black hair, a small mustache, a yellow suit, a red tie, and black shoes. "Mario Camilo, only he had a green suit. Other than that, you look like you could be his brother." Guido went after the Fiat. His avatar had silver hair, but his age looked about in his 30s. He also had a blue hat, pants, short sleeved button-up shirt, a white under shirt, gray shoes and gloves. "Thomas Gale, only he had brown hair, wore a darker shade of blue, and was hatless." Ramone rolled up and picked a human with black hair, tan skin, a purple shirt with flames on it, black pants, and brown shoes. "Rico Martinez, only he had different clothes." Flo went after her husband and got a woman with brown skin, black hair, wearing a light blue waitress uniform. "Yasmine Mohamet, only Mrs. Mohamet wasn't a waitress, she was a cop, and so was her husband, and her son will be one too." Sarge went next and got a human with short dark green hair, a stubble, had a dark green long-sleeved button-up shirt, dark green pants, and dark green combat boots. "John Stanson. He was a soldier who died in a war taking place called Afghanistan, so be careful not to show yourself to any military men. There's a chance someone might recognize you, even though John had brown hair," Holley warned. Fillmore went next. His had long light blue-green hair that reached his shoulders, a pink headband, a shirt with a pattern that was similar to his paint job, tan pants, green sandals, and a pink belt. "Ryan Buckminster, like you, he was a hippie. The only difference was that he had blonde hair, he had a long-sleeved tunic, a burlap vest, blue jeans, and flip-flops," Holley stated. Lizzie was the last to go. Her human appeared to be a woman about 70 and had white hair, a black dress, and glasses. "Violet Sun. The wife of the founder of a small town called Sun Springs. You might have a lot in common with her," Holley stated. "What do you mean by that, dear?" Lizzie asked, oblivious to the fact that she too, was married to the founder of a small town. "What about you and Finn?" Mater asked. "We already chose our human forms," Finn explained as Holley opened up two programs showing two images of humans. One had on a blue-gray suit and had dark gray, slicked back hair. The other was a woman with long, wavy purple hair pulled back into a ponytail wearing a dark purple shirt, a purple blazer and skirt, and violet heels. "Wow, you really think ahead," Lightning said. "Actually, these are the exact humans me and Miss. Shiftwell used the last time we were in the human world," Finn corrected the race car. "Alright, now since that's done, we must get to the portal machine," Holley said, closing all the programs and turning off the monitor. "The portal machine? What's that?" Mater asked.


	4. Chapter 3

Chap. 3: The cars drove into a room with a machine of some sort that was shaped like a hoop and was mounted to the wall. "Whoa!" Mater exclaimed when he saw it. "That thing's bigger than Red!" "It has to be big if a big car, such as a 4x4 ATV or a truck has to go to the human world," Holley giggled. "And how often does that happen?" Lightning asked. "Until now, never, but we built it like this just in case." "Well, at least none of us have to worry about getting stuck in it and holding everyone up," Sheriff said. "So, all we have to do is just drive through the hoop while it's on," Mater said, as Holley pushed a button and the large device flickered to life. "Yes, basically," Holley concluded. "Sounds simple enough," Mater said as he began to back up into a wall. "Now just wait a minute, I have to focus the machine on the desti-," Holley started to say until Mater hollered "Let's go!" and drove through the portal! "Mater!" Holley shrieked. "Mater! Wait!" Lightning shouted, driving after his best friend toward the portal. "Mr. McQueen, hold it!" Finn shouted, trying to stop the race car, but it was too late; Lightning had gone through the portal and was on his way to the human world. "Stickers!" Sally shouted, going after her boyfriend. "Please stop! Or you'll all end up in the desert!" Holley warned. But it was too late; at that point Luigi followed by Guido drove through the portal. Then Sarge charged in, accompanied by Fillmore. Then Ramone and Flo jumped in, with Sheriff close behind. Then, finally Red and Lizzie went through. Holley and Finn were mortified by what their friends had just done, but before they could do anything, the portal automatically shut down, in needing to be charged, which could take about a week. "It's all up to them now," Finn said. "How? They don't know what the Black Lord looks like, and some of them ended up in the desert!" Holley panicked. "Holley," Finn looked at his student questioning her panicked manner. "Oh yes, a good agent does not panic when something goes awry. He or she will find out what to do next with the help of anyone they can find," Holley quoted. In the human world, Mater found himself lying in the middle of a desert. He realized that he has been humanized and was glad he got to the human world in one piece, until he also noticed that he couldn't move. "McQueen? Miss. Sally? Holley? Finn?" he asked. When nobody answered, he realized that he was all alone. It also didn't take the once-tow truck to realize the side effects of dark colored clothing, such as his jacket. Before he knew it, his body started to get really warm and a liquid of some sort started to stain his face. He never experienced this before as a car, and so far, he didn't like it. "MCQUEEN! HOLLEY! FINN! MISS. SALLY!" he started to shout. Then, he heard the sound of an approaching truck, which came to a halt and heard two bangs and footsteps. "So that's who has been making all the racket," said an older voice. "What should we do, Dad?" asked the voice of a young boy. "Well, we might as well get him to the hospital. He looks a little dry and dehydrated as Dr. Garwood would say. What's your name, sir?" the older voice called Dad asked. "Mater…" Mater muttered before slipping unconscious. "Cool. Cool name," said the young voice as it faded out of his head.| Meanwhile, Lightning was in a similar situation, only he had a feeling exactly where he was. Judging by how the ground felt on his back, he knew he was on a dirt track of some sort, and he wasn't alone. "Who is he?" asked a girl with a slight Brazilian accent that reminded him of a young Carla Veloso. "I don't know, Samira. He just came out of nowhere," stated a boy with a Spanish accent that resembled a kid Miguel Camino. "Who cares who he is, Bryan! We need to get him to a doctor!" commanded a tough voice. "Calm down, Trenton," said another boy, "You know, he sort of looks like my dad, but his jacket and his hair is wrong." "Don't mention that, Leo, otherwise you'll get upset. Let's just get him to a doctor," said the voice called Samira. Before Lightning knew it, he felt himself being lifted up by several hands. The last thing he saw was a blur of blonde hair and brown hair. "He says I look like his dad…is he Luke McKay's son?" he wondered to himself.| Little did he know, Sally was lying near a motel building. She was only there for 5 minutes and now she was soaked in a liquid of some sort that made her smell bad. "Stickers? Mater? Where are you?" she groaned. No response. She was alone with nobody to help her, unless she could catch the attention of the people in the motel. "HELP! I NEED HELP!" she screamed very weakly. She knew nobody would have been able to hear that and thought all hope was lost, until she heard the sound of approaching footsteps and clanking of empty cans, as if all clustered in a bag. Then she heard a loud bang and running feet. "Mom! There's a woman here! Come quick! I think she's sick! She also looks like Amy's mom!" a teenage girl hollered. "Oh great, the person I look like used to live in this town," Sally thought. "Oh well, at least I'm saved." She decided now was the time to get some rest a fell unconscious. The last thing she saw was a girl with brown hair and heard the sound of an ambulance.| Luigi was sort of better. Sort of. He was in the shade of a mesa, but the humidity still got to him, showing him the disadvantages of wearing a suit. "Guido? Signore Finn? Mater? Mr. Lightning?" he asked. When nobody said anything, he spoke up a little. "Guido? Mater? Lightning?" Then, at that point, he started to freak out. "GUIDO! MATER! LIGHTNING! IS ANYONE HERE!" he shouted as loud as he could. He heard a slight echo, but no response from his friends. Then he heard footsteps followed by a small gasp and running feet. "Mama! There is-a man here! I think he requires our assistance! He looks like Papa!" screamed a girl with a slight Italian accent. "Thank-a goodness, I am saved," Luigi sighed before falling asleep. "She said I look-a like her father. I wonder if she's is-a Mario Camilo's daughter…"| Meanwhile, Guido was far from being calm. After so many years of being surrounded by friends and family, he was not used to being alone for this long, and he couldn't take it for one second longer. "(LUIGI! LIGHTNING! MATER! SALLY! ANYBODY!)" he shrieked at the top of his lungs. "Father, there is a man here," stated a boy's voice. "Leave him there, Aneil! He's probably a stupid hobo!" snapped a man's voice. "But Father, he looks like Tom Gale!" the boy called Aneil shouted. "What! Impossible! There is no way he could look like him. He has the wrong hair, and didn't you hear him? He spoke in…Latin I think," the man remarked. "Actually, it's Italian. My friend Iralanda taught me how to speak it," stated Aneil proudly. Guido heard the teen's father snarl under his breath "Stupid teen and his friends," before saying "Fine, but that is it! If Dr. Garwood says it's okay, we'll help him!" "Fine by me," Aneil said. "(Grazie, Aneil, grazie…now could you tell me how you know Tom Gale?" Guido asked. "I'll tell you later, what is your name?" Aneil said, before Guido fell unconscious. "Guido…" Guido muttered.| Sarge looked up at the bright, blue sky and parts of bushes. He knew from experience in the army, he had to remain calm until help came, but he knew that help wouldn't come. He was going solo from here on out. In some cases, he didn't mind being alone, but this was different; he had no source of oil or whatever humans lived on, so he knew his chances of dying were at their highest the moment. He didn't like the idea of dying before going into battle or on a mission. He wished he was back in Radiator Springs in his surplus shop. Heck, he wouldn't even mind having a small debate with Fillmore! Then, he heard a small groan and thought it was someone who happened to be in the desert as well as him. "Who goes there?" he asked. "Huh…" said a familiar voice. It was Fillmore! "Great, just great! Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a hippie." He thought to himself. Then he heard laughter from somewhere and saw a human teen with dark skin like Flo's human form wearing a lot of camouflage. "Enjoying being surrounded by nature? 'Cause the sun ain't showing much of them loving warmth as you hoped, is it? It's more like a burn," the teen went on. Sarge didn't know whether to laugh at this kid's humor or yell at the disrespectful teen for being rude to one of his friends. All he did was groan. "Huh?" the teen said, walking to where Sarge was and got a look of horror. "DAD! There's a military man here!" he shouted. "Hold your horses, Juan, I'm on my way!" shouted an older man's voice. "Dang, he looks a lot like an old friend of mine who fought with me in Afghanistan, John Stanson," stated the voice. "Another war man! That's exactly what this town needs," said a somewhat feminine boy voice. "Take a shower, Gavin!" the teen named Juan snapped. "Maybe me and this kid will get along after all," Sarge thought to himself, before fainting from exhaustion.| Fillmore didn't like to be made fun of, especially from military brats like this kid named Juan. He was nearly out of it when this kid called Gavin came onto the scene. He heard the teen's sneer at someone in the army, which concluded to him that it was Sarge he heard a few moments ago. Then he heard a gasp followed by Gavin shrieking "OMG! There's a hippie here! He looks like my dad, but with greenish hair! Mommy! I found a hippie!" "Oh man, this must be Buckminster's kid. At least he's a hippie like me…Sarge won't be too happy to hear he'll be dealing with more than one hippie for a few days," Fillmore smiled before fainting from the heat. He opened his eyes a little wider to see a teenager with short blonde hair and wearing as much tie-dye as Juan did camouflage.| Sheriff was stuck behind a bulletin board and was somewhat pleased to be somewhere he knew about. Little did he know, a cop and his son were investigating him to be sure he was still alive. "I'm pretty sure he's alive, Pop," said the teen's voice. "Still, we have to be sure he's in good shape before we get him to a hospital, Yasin," said the cop's voice. "Can we do that now? He's probably dying of thirst at least," the teen named Yasin stated. The cop laughed "You sounded like your mother for a split second. Then again, you are her son," the cop said. "Sheriff Mohamet, now is the time to be serious. No more joking around!" Yasin snapped, but laughed afterward. "Now you sounded like my old boss," the man Sheriff Mohamet laughed. "I wonder if this kid has seen Flo yet," Sheriff thought to himself as he fell asleep.| Meanwhile, Flo and Ramone ended up in someone's driveway for a café as far as Flo could tell. "That woman looks like Yasin's mother! And that man looks like my uncle Rico, but he died a year ago in a car crash!" shrieked a girl with a Hispanic accent. "Kelly, keep calm and carry on, girl!" shouted a boy that Ramone could tell was African American. "I know Quinton, but it's weird how you run into someone who looks like someone you knew who died a while ago," the girl called Kelly said. "This is nothing, Juan's sister, Sela, told me Juan and his dad found a dude who looks like a soldier Mr. Joenns fought alongside in a war, and he is also supposed to be dead! Leo texted me that he found a guy on the racetrack that looks like his dad, but with red hair. And Kendra found a woman near the motels that resembled Amy's mother. Then Gavin found a hippie that looks like his father in the face, and Iralanda found a gentleman who looks like a clone of her dad. Then Aneil found a dude who looked like Kendra's dad!" the teen named Quinton stated. "What about the people Travis and Yasin found?" Kelly asked. "They don't look like anyone so far," Quinton told the girl. "It's to _mas loco_ for me! I don't know if I'll be able to look at this guy without thinking of my uncle and crying my eyes out!" Kelly cried. "Kelly, there is only one of your uncle. This guy has a personality totally different from him, I mean, he dresses different," Quinton added. "True, but how will Yasin react once he sees this woman?" Kelly asked. "He might get a little upset or he won't notice, you never know with him," Quinton stated. "Poor girl. She's scared for everyone, even herself," Flo thought, before drifting off. "We better get our parents," Quinton said. "_Bueno_ idea," Kelly agreed as the teens ran into the café.| Finally, we learn what has happened to our last two heroes. Red found himself lying next to a large brick building. He could by the nearby breathing, Lizzie was not that far away from him. He glanced to his left where a few pots of flowers caught his eye. They were carnations as far as he could tell. He reached out to touch them when he heard a small gasp. He glanced in the direction he heard it and saw a short boy wearing a plastic fireman's hat, and holding a watering can. The teen dropped it and ran off. "Oh no! That was our only help! Now how will we live?" Then the kid came back with a woman about I her late 50s accompanied by a small girl with blonde hair that reached half-way down her neck and had right to get me, Christopher! These people need our help!" the woman exclaimed. "Grandma, that man looks like Chris's dad!" the girl exclaimed. "I know, Amy, I know," the woman said as Red fell unconscious. "Ridiculous humans," Lizzie thought to herself before she too, fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 4

Chap. 4: The next morning, Lightning was just waking up in a place he couldn't quite make-out. "Man, I had the weirdest dream that me and my friends got sent to the human world and I was lying in the middle of a dirt race track," he said aloud to himself. "It wasn't a dream, you were actually on a dirt track!" said an unidentified voice. Lightning screamed and found himself sitting up and realized he was still a human. "Great, just great. I'm still human and I don't know where any of my friends are," he thought to himself. "Do you need help, sir? You look a little confused," said the mysterious voice again. Lightning realized that it was the voice that said he looked like his father, but with red hair. He glanced to his right to see a teenage boy of about 14 with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. "Who are you?" Lightning asked the teen, only having an idea of what his last name was. "Leo McKay, at your service," Leo stated in a dignified manner, but ended up laughing afterward. "Boy, I'll never stay serious and dignified when I introduce myself like Dylan, Trenton, Aneil or Juan," he stated. "Okay…anyway, where am I?" Lightning had to know. "Where are you? You got to be kidding! You're in Star City! One of the racing capitals in the world…well it used to be…anyway, I don't live here. I live in a small town near here called Sun Springs," Leo explained. "Do you know anything about the Black Lord?" Lightning asked. Leo immediately stiffened. "D-d-did you say…B-b-b-black Lord?" the teen asked, wondering if he heard right. Lightning nodded. "Um…yeah, in fact, he lives in Star City. What do you want from him?" "Me and my friends came her to take him down before he forms an alliance with a bad guy where I'm from," Lightning explained. "Good luck," Leo said, even though he didn't sound that hopeful for the racer. "So, now since you know my name, what's yours?" "Lightning McQueen, hot shot racer. You probably know him in another world," Lightning stated proudly, trying to imply to Leo that he wasn't always human. "O-o-okay," Leo said, not exactly believing him. "Cool name, the same name as my favorite character in Cars." "He was your favorite?" Lightning knew he and the kid would get along just fine. "Yeah, my dad was a racer himself, but he didn't let too much fame go to his head after he came here, just like the race car," Leo explained. "Nice, so, do you think you can help me find my friends? They're in on the mission too," Lightning said. "Sure, follow me," Leo walked toward the door. Lightning slowly got out of the bed and put his feet on the floor, discovering that he still had his clothes on. He managed to stand up, but when he moved his feet to move like Leo did, he ended up falling flat on the floor flat on his face. "Can't you walk? You're not a cripple are you, because my town already has one of them," Leo said. "I'm pretty sure I can, I just got to get the hang of it," Lightning told the teen as he got back on his feet. He took a few careful steps forward, then backward, the forward again but a little more casually. "Okay then, let's go to Sun Springs. You can discuss your mission with the mayor there, Dr. Garwood," Leo said.| Sally had just woken up and noticed a little more quickly that she was still in the human world in one of the hospital wards. "Hello? Is anyone here?" she asked. "I'm here," replied a voice. Sally sat up and saw a girl with medium brown hair and brown eyes. "I'm Kendra Gale, who're you?" the stranger asked. "Sally Carrera, where am I?" Sally asked, not exactly sure. "Star City at the moment, but the mayor of Sun Springs wants to speak to you and some others because you turned up in our town out of nowhere," Kendra stated. "About what?" Sally asked. "Will we need an attorney?" Kendra laughed "No, I don't think so. Some people who are at the hospital in Sun Springs told the locals that they were on a mission to take down the Black Lord, so everyone is suspicious of them, and you, considering that you match the description of one of their friends." "Who told you about the mission?" Sally asked, already having a couple of ideas on who spilled. "A woman named Flo, a man named Ramone, and a cop named Sheriff," Kendra told her. "Wow, I expected Stickers or Mater to tell them," Sally sighed. "Stickers?" Kendra asked confused by the weird name. "That's the name of my boyfriend. His real name is Lightning McQueen, but I call him Stickers because he had so many stickers on his paint- I mean, jacket," Sally explained. "Just like the character in Cars, but he wasn't my favorite. My favorite was Sally…hey, you have the exact same name as her…weird," Kendra said. "Well, since you know where some of my friends are, could you take me to them?" Sally said. "Sure, my mom's car is outside," Kendra stated.| Mater had also regained consciousness and found himself in the hospital ward. Remembering what happened yesterday; he leaped out of the bed and shouted "Holley! Finn! McQueen! Miss Sally!" "Don't know any," said what appeared to be an invisible voice. "Who said that?" he asked. Then, Mater felt someone grab his ankle, causing him to yelp and fall to the ground. He then discovered a boy hiding underneath the hospital bed. The teen had light brown skin, black hair that was about a centimeter short and green eyes. The kid crawled out of hiding and stood up. "All according to plan," he said to nobody in particular. "To what? Take 5 years off my life!" Mater exclaimed. "Easy there, pal. I meant no harm. I'm Travis and you told me and my dad that you were Mater right?" the kid said. "So you were the fellas to help me, thank you," Mater said as he got back on his feet. "Yep, that was me and my dad. You were shouting the names of random people which are how we found you," Travis said. "Those weren't random names; they were the names of my friends. McQueen is my best friend and Holley is my girlfriend," Mater stated. "Is Holley a hottie?" Travis asked, grinning very big. "I guess that's one way to describe her," Mater chuckled, even though he had no idea what Travis meant. "I'd love to meet her, but maybe later, because you and some others we found caused a lot of trouble and Sun Springs's mayor wants to have a word with all of you," Travis explained. "Is that where I am?" Mater asked. "No, you're in the neighboring city, Star City, which I have to admit, is cooler than Sun Springs, literally, depending on the weather, but you know what they say: There's no place like home. Now let's go before the bus pulls away too far for us to jump on."| Sarge was a little disoriented when he woke up and he heard a few unidentified voices. "Do you think he's still alive?" asked a little girl's voice. "I'm not sure, Cydney. I'll poke him to find him," said an older girl's voice. "Don't poke him! He's a military man! He deserves respect! You're starting to turn into Adam and Gavin!" snapped a boy's voice. "Don't compare me to that moddie and hippie, Juan!" the girl bit back. A Sarge's vision became clearer, he noticed something nearing his face and grabbed it to defend himself. "Stand down!" he commanded as he sat up in his cot, followed by the yelp of a girl. Sarge noticed that the person he grabbed was a teenage girl of 14 with short, black dreadlocks, light brown skin and dark brown eyes. Behind her was a boy with black hair, brown skin, and the exact color of eyes. Sarge realized that it was the same kid that insulted Fillmore and found him. Near the kid he believed was Juan was a little girl of about 8 with black braids, brown skin and brown eyes. "Let her go, guy. She doesn't bite," Juan said cautiously. Sarge did as told, not wanting to cause trouble and the girl scrambled away very fast. "Sorry for my sister, Sela's, insolence. I'm Juan Joenns, and the little girl is my other sister, Cydney," Juan stated. "Sarge," Sarge muttered. "Cool, you in the army?" Juan asked. "What does it look like? Do I look like a damn hippie?" Sarge questioned the teens. "Whoa, no need for the language, brother. We were just wondering, there has been a lot of wannabes lately," Sela said. "Damn hippie…maybe I should call Gavin that," Juan said. "Yeah, and get fed soap by momma while you're at it," Cydney said sarcastically. "Where'd she learn sarcasm?" Sarge asked. "Our oldest sister, Darrian," Sela stated. "How many sisters do you have, Juan?" Sarge asked. "Sela's my twin, Cydney's the only one younger than me, then there's Anna, who's 16, and then Darrian, who is 18," Juan explained. "I'm the only boy out of the Joenns children." "Now since we've answered your questions, answer ours: Why are you so interested in the Black Lord?" Sela asked coldly. "Did Fillmore sell us out?" Sarge snarled. "Nope, some people named Flo, Ramone, and Sheriff did," Juan corrected the war veteran. "Well, that's a surprise," Sarge admitted. "Answer my question!" Sela snapped. "Sela, don't interrogate him. That's Sheriff Mohamet's job," Juan scolded his sister. "To heck with him, I want to know everything now!" Sela protested. "I'll tell mom," Juan threatened. "Okay fine," Sela gave in. "Now, our dad is parked outside. We're supposed to escort you to the café in Sun Springs until everyone else shows up and you're all summoned to court," Juan stated. "Court? Why?" Sarge had to know. "Nobody in town trusts you, because you're after the Black Lord," Sela sneered.| Fillmore had woken up a couple hours before and was sitting in a meditating position on his cot to wait for something to happen; he had a feeling someone was going to get him, and he wasn't wrong. A boy with short ash blonde hair, light green eyes, and wearing a tie-dye shirt and bandana entered the ward. "Oh goody! You're awake, that means I won't have to wait like Kendra and Leo did," the teen said. "Well, hi! I'm Gavin, the resident teen-hippie in Sun Springs. My mom is the woman adult hippie there." "Cool, I'm Fillmore. Peace man," Fillmore greeted. "Peace!" Gavin squealed, doing the peace symbol with his pointer and middle finger. Fillmore did the same. "The mayor of Sun Springs needs to speak to you and several others about your mission; he is not happy, then again…when is he? Ha, ha, ha!" Gavin laughed. "Alright," Fillmore climbed out of his bed. "Say, do you know a guy named Sarge?" "UGH! A military guy! No way jose! I let Juan talk to them so that they don't insult me," Gavin scrunched up his nose as if he smelled something worse than an unwashed bus. "Don't worry, dude. Sarge is pretty cool…sometimes. I got him to drink some of my organic fuel…well, actually, I tricked him by putting it in a container that isn't see-through. He never knew!" Fillmore explained. "Nice! Maybe I should try that on Juan and his sisters! Don't tell then, they'll murder me!" Gavin said. "I'll help you," Fillmore laughed, then he stopped when he realized the name Gavin mentioned. "Did you say Juan? He insulted me, man!" he exclaimed, a little less calmly. "Relax, Juan insults every single hippie he sees. Trust me, I'm used to it," Gavin stated. "Now come on! We got a bus to catch!| Luigi was already in the lobby of the hospital because a nurse came in and told someone would be there to pick him up. Then, he heard someone clear her throat. He glanced to his right to see a girl dressed in all yellow with black hair, fair skin, and dark blue eyes. "Ciao! I'm Iralanda Camilo. I'm supposed to take you to Sun Springs by bus because my mama's car got-a flat tire," the girl stated. "Ciao Iralanda, I am Luigi. I know a few things about tires, so I might be able to help your mother…but first I got to find my assistant, Guido," Luigi said. "Flo, Ramone, and Sheriff told us about him, but don't worry; my best guy friend, Aneil, is getting him to town. He's at a different hospital. Mr. Jago was not-a happy when he found him near his backyard. Luckily, Aneil knows Italian thanks to me," Iralanda told the Italian man. "You know Italian? Prove it, tell me something in Italian related to the word I say in Italian," Luigi said. "Okay," Iralanda said excited to play a game for the first time that day. "(Egg,)" Luigi began. "(Chicken,)" Iralanda responded. "(Bird,)" "(Bald Eagle,)" "(America,)" "(Apple pie,)" "(Food,)" "(Lasagna,)" "(Italy,)" "(the Pope,)" "(Church,)" "(Pray,)" "(Hope,)" "(Miracle,)" Luigi raised his eyebrows at that response. "(You hope for a miracle,)" Iralanda explained in Italian. "Okay, I believe-a you. Let's-a go," Luigi said as the two left the building.| Guido was indeed in another hospital, not that far from the one everyone else was in. He woke up a while ago and figured out how to pace and started to do that in his ward. Nobody had informed him that someone was going to get him, so he finally decided to take the opportunity and run for it. He threw open the door, ready to dash out when he noticed a boy with black hair, olive skin, and squinted eyes that shown blue-green was about to open the door himself. Both guys screamed and fell backwards. "(Take whatever you want! Just don't hurt me! Mater! Luigi!)" Guido shouted. "Easy there, Guido. I just came to get you and bring you to Sun Springs," the teen explained, trying to calm the Italian. "(How do you know my name? Who are you?! Luigi!)" Guido questioned. "(Why are Italians so dramatic?)" the kid asked himself in Japanese, then he turned toward Guido and said in English. "Dude, you told me your name in the desert." Guido stood up slowly and asked "(Are you Aneil?)" "Yep, and don't worry about your friends. They're all okay," Aneil said. "(Where are they?)" Guido asked, completely calmed down. "They're all on their way to Sun Springs, if we take the bus right now, we could meet up with my best female friend, Iralanda and our friend, Gavin. Do you have 100 dollars, because the toll is 50 per passenger," Aneil said. "(Er…no, I'm afraid not,)" Guido admitted. "Then we'll meet up with Travis," Aneil concluded. "(How will we get to the town with him? Car? Truck?)" Guido asked. "Neither, he travels by bumper," Aneil stated. "(Bumper?)" Guido had no idea what that was. "The back bumpers on the buses are wide enough to sit on; you just have to be careful to not get caught. Everyone in Star City knows about it, including the drivers, but only a few people will likely snitch, mostly Harold Trillo," Aneil explained. "(Okay, let's go,)" Guido said.| Flo was already in Sun Springs, along with Ramone and Sheriff. She had volunteered to help the café's owner, Mrs. Watson, run the café, which was fine with her considering she was low on help. Ramone was helping the local tattooist and graffiti artist, Mr. Shen. Kelly was Mrs. Watson's daughter that still had yet to go to college; Kelly had two sisters, named Maria and Juliana that were already in college. Quinton was Mr. Shen's son who was nice to everyone, but could tease someone every now and then. Sheriff was helping Mr. Mohamet with the patrol, already earning some trust from the locals. As far as Flo knew, the only people that trusted her and Ramone were Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. Shen, and Quinton. Some people, such as Mr. Jago, had become suspicious of her and Ramone ever since she explained their mission in Sun Springs. For some reason, she kept getting the feeling that she and the others would be in the town for a while until they can actually find the Black Lord. Flo had a way of sensing something about to happen.| Ramone had the exact same vibe and was worried that if he or his friends made a bad move, they would all be thrown out of town or taken to the nearest impound, which was right down the street like the one in Radiator Springs. He wished he was back in town where he would have been working on the paint job for a car. Life was normal and there was no danger at all in the world to worry. As he thought this over, he knew that the Black Lord was making his deals with Axlerod, increasing the danger in the Cars Dimension. He's heard of being homesick, but instead, he was dimension-sick.| Sheriff and Mr. Mohamet had already pulled over two speeding drivers, just like on every patrol. The once-cop car was starting to get the hang of things and was glad that he didn't have nothing to do. Mr. Mohamet and his son, Yasin, along with the rest of Sun Springs seemed to trust him instantly, except of course Mr. Jago, who suspects everyone of being an intruder. Only a few people trusted Flo and Ramone, but Sheriff told everyone that they were okay and trustworthy, he just wished they believed him.| Red had already left the hospital, pushing Lizzie in a wheelchair. "So people can get around like cars do," he thought to himself. "He was accompanied by two kids named Christopher Upton, a boy with golden brown hair and light brown eyes, and Amy Betts, a girl with light blonde hair, blue-green eyes and had to use these two metal crutches to help her walk. She also used them to defend herself, which Red learned the hard way when, according to her, he was staring into space for too long, even though he actually wasn't. She and Lizzie hit it off right away, because Amy also had a habit to stick stickers on random travelers. Christopher, or Chris, which is what Amy calls him, didn't seem to talk much, like Red. "He's not mute, he's taken a vow of silence," Amy explained when Chris didn't respond to Lizzie's greeting. "How do you know?" Lizzie asked. "I just know," Amy answered. It was that response that made Red doubt Amy's sanity. Everyone was on their way to Sun Springs, and some of them would meet up with each other and eventually, they would all be together again.


	6. Chapter 5

Chap. 5: "Let's see if we can find a bus that's heading to Sun Springs," Travis said. He and Mater had been wandering around Star City for a few hours, trying to find a ride to Travis's small town. At the same time, Aneil and Guido were also trying to find a bus. A big red one drove by and Travis and Aneil read the led light board on the front to see where it was going. "This is the one we want," the two teens said in unison. The two duos ran to the back of the bus to the wide bumper and hopped on, Travis and Aneil got on expertly, and Mater got on with ease, but Guido was having some trouble. "Lemme help you," Mater put his hand out to the Italian and pulled Guido onboard with some help from Aneil. "(Grazie,)" Guido said. "You're welcome!" Mater said. Then the two once-vehicles looked at each other wide-eyed, recognizing the others voice. "(Mater!)" Guido exclaimed. "Guido!" Mater cheered. "You know each other?" Aneil asked. "Shoot, of course we do! He's one of friends from my old town. He ran a tire store along with my other friend, Luigi," Mater explained. "(Yes, and Mater towed broken down cars,)" Guido added. "Huh?" Mater and Travis asked, having no idea what he said. "He said Mater towed broken down cars in the town," Aneil translated. "And there's one of my friends," Travis stated, waving at a dark green modern day Jeep. One of the back passenger windows rolled down and Juan stuck his head out. "What are you idiots doing?" he asked. "We idiots are going to Sun Springs by bumper, care to join us?" Aneil asked in a dignified manner. "No, I would not," Juan responded in the same manner. "You better not rat us out to the driver like you did last time," Travis said. "I only did that because Gavin was on there, and also, it was hilarious!" Juan stated. "Juan, roll down the window, I'm feeling a draft," Cydney whined. "You always feel a draft, kid!" Juan snapped. "Juan Joseph Joenns! Be nice to your sister and roll up your window!" Mr. Joenns commanded. "I hate my sisters," Juan mouthed to his friends, before rolling up his window. Then, a short boy with medium brown hair and blue eyes hopped onto the bumper. "Hi, Adam Edmund, son of the couple who own Edmund Emporium. Don't be afraid to take a picture, I don't mind," the kid said nonchalantly. "None of us even have camera," Mater said. "Then your all losers," Adam sneered. "Forgive him if you can, he's always like that," Aneil grumbled. "(So I see,)" Guido said. "Oh, are you French. My Aunt Clarissa loves French guys," Adam stated. "No, he's Italian actually," Aneil corrected. "In that case your new friend sucks," Adam sneered. "Room for one more?" asked a boy with black hair, olive skin and green eyes. "No Harold, go away," snarled Adam. "Oh come on, you still hold a grudge for me leaving you and Leo in the dust at last week's race? And my science teacher always said girls hold more grudges than dudes do," the teen named Harold jabbed, basically implying that Adam is a girl. Adam gave the Latino the "oh no you didn't face." Aneil did the "this won't end well face." Travis did the "should I leave face." Guido and Mater did the "I have no idea what's going on faces." Harold just laughed and ran to the front of the bus and shouted "Hey driver! There are 5 hobos hitching a ride in the back!" "That snitch!" Adam snarled. "Run!" Aneil shouted, taking off quickly. Guido, Mater, Travis, and Adam closely followed. "That was Harold Trillo. He always does that whenever we don't let him sit with us on the bumper," Aneil explained as the bus driver got off the bus and chased after them. "That kid's as bad as Chick Hicks," Mater said. "Actually, we always thought of him as bad as Francesco Bernoulli. Kelsey Hawkeye is Chick Hicks, she always cheats," Aneil said. "Run into the desert, we'll lose him there!" Adam ordered. Everyone did as told and ran into the desert toward Sun Springs.| Meanwhile, Gavin and Fillmore got to the bus and paid the toll with a 100 dollar bill Gavin said he found in a grate. "People always waste good cash," Gavin stated. The duo sat in the back row as Luigi and Iralanda got onto the bus sometime after they got on. "AHHH!" Gavin squealed when he saw Iralanda. "Gavin!" Iralanda squeaked excitedly when she saw her friend. "Is he your friend?" Luigi asked. "Yep, but not my BGF, like I said before, that's Aneil," Iralanda explained as she and the seats next to Gavin and Fillmore's. "Girl, I'm pretty sure you and Aneil would be perfect for each other, and not just as friends," Gavin said. Iralanda blushed a little as the driver got back on. "Sorry for the delay, I had to deal with a couple of stowaways," the driver apologized. Fillmore covered his mouth and softly chuckled. "What?" Gavin had to know what was so funny. "He rhymed without realizing it; 'delay' and 'stowaway'," Fillmore explained. Gavin snickered as well. "You sound-a familiar, do I know you?" Luigi asked. "That depends if I know you, man," Fillmore said. Luigi's jaw dropped "Fillmore?" "Yes?" Fillmore asked, his eyebrows raised. "Don't you a-recognize me?" "Not really, dude, sorry." "It's-a me! Luigi!" Luigi exclaimed. "Whoa! Luigi! Sorry, I had a bad trip for a few seconds and totally forgot what you looked like as a human!" Fillmore admitted. "Do you remember what everyone else looks like?" Luigi asked, worried that this could cause some problems when they met up with everyone else. "Um…Lightning has…red hair?" Fillmore guessed. "Correct, and Mater?" "Hmm…he has…black hair and tan skin?" "No, that's-a Ramone, Mater has brown hair." "Oh…Sarge has…dark green hair and a…stubble." "Great, you remember what some people look like at least." "Doesn't Guido have blue hair?" "No, he has silver hair. Sally has-a the blue hair." As the two adults discussed how everyone looked, Iralanda whispered to Gavin "This is going to be an interesting ride home." "Indeed," Gavin agreed.| Sally and Kendra were in Mrs. Gale's car on their way to Sun Springs. Sarge was in the Jeep with the Joenns. Red, Lizzie, Christopher and Amy were in Mrs. Betts's or Lydia's, as she insisted, van and were on their way to Sun Springs. Lightning and Leo were going to town on foot when the bus Gavin, Fillmore, Iralanda, and Luigi were on went by. "Come on, let's go the rest of the way on bumper. Also, I want to know what they're playing on it; the radio's so loud you can sometimes hear it 20 feet before you get on it," Leo said. He ad Lightning leaped onto the bumper. Adam, Aneil, Guido, Travis and Mater were still running through the desert when Adam fished a portable radio out of his hoodie pocket. "I wonder what they're playing in our local station," he said to nobody in particular. At the same time, Kelly was switching on the radio in the café with Flo, Ramone, Sheriff, Yasin and Quinton inside, the bus driver was turning on the radio on the bus, Mrs. Gale was turning on the car's radio, Lydia turned on the one in her van, and Mr. Joenns turned on the one in his Jeep, because Sela said she was bored. "Please don't let it be a song she knows," Juan prayed.


	7. Chapter 6

Chap. 6: A familiar strumming of a guitar was on the radio. "Yes! 'Drive By' by Train!" Sela cheered. "God, why don't you listen to me," Juan asked, looking up to what Sarge thought was nothing. "Cool, Train song," Leo said. "Hey, I know this song," Gavin stated. "Me too!" Iralanda said. "I did this song for karaoke once, let's see if I remember the words," Aneil said. "We'll help you out if you need it," Travis said, pointing at himself and Adam. _"On the other side of a street I knew, stood a girl that looked like you," Gavin sang. "I guess that's de ja vu," Iralanda added. "But I thought this can't be true," Leo crooned. "Cause you moved to West L.A., or New York, or Santa Fe," Sela sang. "Or wherever to get away from me," Juan blurted out on accident. "Oh, but that one night, was more than just right," Aneil crooned. "I didn't leave you," Adam added. "Cause I was all through," Travis finished. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Kendra sang. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Amy added. "Because I really fell for you," Quinton sang out loud. "Oh, I swear to ya," Kelly belted out. "I'll be there for you," Yasin added. "This is not a drive by!" Adam shouted. "Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight," Aneil sang like Sinatra. "After I take her home, I-I-I-I-I-I know," Travis jumped back in. "When you're moving," Iralanda sang. "Everything is grooving," Gavin added. "They don't I can sue me," Yasin sang. "Only way that you'd be," Quinton crooned. "Oh, I swear to ya," Amy sang. "I'll be there for ya," Kendra added. "This is not a drive by!" Sela finished. "On the other side in a downward spiral," Leo sang. "My love for you went viral," Gavin added. "And I loved you for every mile you drove away," Aneil crooned. "Now here you are again," Adam sang. "Let's skip to how you've been," Travis added. "And get down to more than friends at last," Iralanda sang. "Oh but that one night, was still a highlight," Juan sang. "I didn't leave you," Cydney jumped. "Until I came to," Kelly sang. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Lightning sang, finally joining in. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Fillmore added. "Because I really fell for you," Mater joined in. "(Oh I swear to you,)" Guido crooned in Italian, "I'll be there for you," Aneil added. "This is not a drive by," everyone that had been singing sang. "Just a shy guy," Ramone added. "Looking for it tonight," Flo sang. "After I take her home," Luigi sang. "I-I-I-I-I-I know!" Amy, Kendra, and Gavin sang. "When you're moving," Yasin, Travis, and Adam sang. "Everything is grooving," Quinton, Mater, Aneil, Leo and Lightning chorused. "They don't, I can sue me," Cydney, Guido, and Sally sang in unison. "Only way that you'd be," Juan and Sarge accidently sang and covered their mouths. "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by," everyone sang in unison. "(Please believe, that when I leave,)" Guido crooned. "There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you," Aneil added. "And a little time to get my head together too," Travis and Mater added. "On the other side of a street I knew," Lightning sang. "Stood a girl that looked like you," Mater added. "I guess that's de ja vu," Fillmore sang. "But I thought this can't be true," Luigi jumped in. "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by! Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight. After I take her home, baby, I-I-I-I-I-I know! When we're moving, everything is grooving, they don't, I can sue me. Only way that you'd be. Oh, I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya! This is not a drive by!" everyone finished. "That was great," Leo complimented. "Thank you," Lightning said. "And look! There's Sun Springs!" Kendra pointed out. "We're almost home!" Iralanda squealed. "Oh thank goodness, I don't think I can run for much longer," Travis admitted. _


	8. Chapter 7

Chap. 7: When the bus finally got to Sun Springs, Lightning and Leo jumped off the bumperand ran into the café. "They have good coffee here, let's get you a cup before you set out and find you friends," Leo said. "Hey Kelly, I'll have my usual and Lightning will have an expresso." "Alright, just let me get these glasses clean," Kelly replied as she washed a glass cup spotless. "You should get more workers here, that way you can focus more on stuff that you like to do," Leo suggested. "You ask that every time you come in here Leo, and like I said all those time, I can't tell you how many times I asked my parents to start hiring, but we did get a new waitress named Flo," Kelly said. "Flo? Does she have brown skin?" Lightning asked. "Yeah, why?" Kelly asked. "I think I know her!" Lightning exclaimed. "In that case, I'll go get her," Kelly left the room. "So much for my usual. Thanks a ton Lightning," Leo said sarcastically. "You're welcome Leo," Lightning said. Just then Gavin and Fillmore entered the café. "Kelly! Where are you girl!" Gavin shouted. "She's getting the new waitress in here! Please don't shout!" Leo shouted. "I'm not the only one shouting here anymore!" Gavin hollered back. "You'll both get shouted at if you don't stop!" yelled Mrs. Watson. "Sorry, Mrs. Watson," Gavin and Leo said. "Oooohhhh, red- head," Gavin said, gawking at Lightning's hair. "It's redder than a tomato, do you dye it?" "Er…no," Lightning muttered. "Gavin, that's not exactly nice," Leo told the teen. "You sound like Juan when you talk like that, and besides, I'm right, look how red it is. Sooooo red!" Gavin started to muss up Lightning's hair. "Stop that Gavin," Leo said, seeing the once-race car in distress. "How would you feel if I touched your hair?" "I don't like being touched by people in general," Gavin said, taking his fingers out of Lightning's hair. "Watch this," Leo whispered to Lightning. The teen reached out his hand toward Gavin's ear. He was only a centimeter away from contact when the hippie teen noticed what his friend was doing. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" he shrieked, jumping backwards into a table and chairs, knocking both down. "What was that!" Mrs. Watson shouted. "Everything's fine!" Fillmore replied. "It better be!" As Fillmore helped Gavin stand up and reset the table and chairs, Juan and Sarge entered the building. "What happened in here?" Juan asked. "I freaked out Gavin," Leo stated. "Good for you, cadet!" Juan congratulated the blonde. "You are all mean," Gavin said. Sarge, who remembered what Fillmore looked like human, was ready to turn tail and run before he was spotted. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough. "Hey!" Fillmore went over to him, with a big ridiculous grin on his face. "Do I know you?" Fillmore asked, still smiling at the war veteran. "…No, you must be mistaken. I've never seen you all my life," Sarge lied, trying to trick the hippie. Seeing his neighbor's reaction, he could tell he succeeded. "Man, green hair and stubble…are there so many people like that?" Fillmore wondered to himself. Sarge threw open the door, ready to run, but there was a man and a teenage boy in his way. "Whoa! In a hurry, amigo? Sarge?" It was Ramone! "You know this dude?" Quinton asked. "Yeah, he ran a surplus shop in my town," Ramone stated. "Hey! You lied to me, man!" Fillmore exclaimed, mocking hurt. "Hey, even military guys have lie to get out of a bad situation," Juan informed the hippie. "Sarge? Ramone? Fillmore?" Lightning said. "Lightning?" all three guys said at once. "Am I interrupting something?" Kelly asked, as she entered the room with Flo. "Flo!" Lightning, Sarge and Fillmore exclaimed. "Lightning! Sarge! Fillmore! You're alive!" Flo gasped happily. "you should have more faith in them, Flo," Kelly said, as Luigi and Iralanda entered. "Hey, has anyone seen-a Aneil?" Iralanda asked. "Last time I saw him, he was sitting on the bumper of one of the buses heading here with Travis and two guys I didn't know," Juan stated. "But the bus got here 10 minutes ago! Where are they?" Leo and Lightning looked at each other; the bus Juan was talking about was the one they rode to Sun Springs, but there was no sign of anyone else. "Um…me and Lightning got here on that bus, but we didn't see them," Leo admitted. "Oh no," Quinton groaned. "What's wrong?" Flo had to know. "They got chased off, it's always them. They are probably running through the desert right now," Quinton explained. "Who did the people with them look like?" Luigi asked, knowing that Guido was supposed to be with Aneil. "One had tan skin and brown hair, the other wore too much and had silver hair," Juan described. "Mater and Guido!" all the cars people exclaimed in unison. "What about Mater and Guido?" asked Sally as she, Kendra, Red, Lizzie, Amy and Christopher entered the room. "Sally!" everyone said. Lightning jumped out of seat and ran to hug his girlfriend. "It's so good to see you alright," he said. "Oh, so this is Stickers," Kendra said. "You told her?" Lightning mortified. "Your nickname is Stickers!" Leo exclaimed, erupting in laughter, followed by the other teens, except Christopher, who just grinned. "It's funny on many levels!" Juan added. Sarge, fed up with all the teasing, decided to step in. "HEY!" he shouted, silencing everyone in the room and giving him their attention. "Cut it out. It's not as funny as you think. How would feel if someone called you a ridiculous nickname?" he scolded. "Well, if it's from our parents or girlfriends or boyfriends, it'd be alright, but if it was coming from a random old man, like you, that'd be creepy," Gavin said oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room knew better not to say something like that, or got a hint. Sarge approached the teen-hippie very threateningly, making the kid tremble with fear. "Would you mind repeating that, I didn't hear you," Sarge snarled. "Hit him, hit him," Juan chanted under his breath. "Whoa! Don't give him any ideas!" Gavin shrieked. "Oh, come on, man, he didn't mean it," Fillmore said. "Sarge, step away from the kid, or I'll have to arrest you for threatening a minor," Sheriff warned, entering the café along with Yasin. "I wasn't threatening him," Sarge protested. Then, everyone realized who it was. "Sheriff!" everyone said, glad to see the cop. "Afternoon everyone," Sheriff said. "Good to see that we're all here in one place." "Almost everyone, Mater and Guido are currently MIA," Sarge informed the police officer. "I knew that would happen, always want to see what's to see in a new place," Sheriff said, shaking his head. "No, we think they got run out of Star City along with some friends of ours," Kelly said. "They're all in the desert as we speak! I just know it!" Then, Adam entered the café by bursting through the doors. "Hello little people, what a great day it was for a jog," he stated to nobody in particular cheerfully. Lightning snickered "We're the little people? Have you checked your height recently?" "Excuse me?" Adam said, glaring in the racer's direction. "Uh-oh," Leo muttered, moving to another seat, knowing this could end violently. "I mean, you're a lot shorter than us. Are you the youngest kid in town?" Lightning asked. "No, that's Juan youngest sister, Cydney, the second youngest are Christopher and Amy, who are both 12, and the third youngest is Sara Marcov, who is 13," Adam stated. "So how old are you?" Sally asked. "How old did you think I was?" Adam asked, daring her to say more. "…9…" Sally answered hesitantly. Before anyone knew what was going to happen, Adam lunged at Sally like a wild jaguar, who jumped back, knocking over another chair and table. Kendra and Gavin leapt into action by grabbing Adam and holding him back. "Why do people always think I'm younger than I am! I'm 14! 14!" Adam shrieked. "Let her live, Adam, let her live! She didn't know you would be offended," Gavin shouted. Adam finally gave up on trying to get Sally and quit struggling and Kendra and Gavin released. "Well, nearly all the teens in Sun Springs are here, everyone this is Adam Edmund. His parents own Edmund Emporium, the clothing store," Leo said. "I'm also the-," Adam started to say when all the other teens finished saying, "The richest kid in town, we know!" "Hey, no need to be sassy," Adam said. Then he walked over to the counter up to Flo. "I need a small glass of ice water, two medium buckets of ice water and two large buckets of ice water," Adam ordered. "Wow, that's a lot of water for one kid," Flo said. "Actually, the small glass is for me, the buckets are for some friends of mine," Adam explained. "Can we use buckets for water?" Flo asked Kelly. "Yeah, it's a thing my dad started when I was little, when they were still alive," Kelly said. The other dads went along with it, desperate to stay cool," Kendra added. "Except for my dad, he wasn't that desperate and stayed dry," Iralanda said. "Until my dad doused him with a large bin of water," Kendra threw in. "And my dad wanted to beat your dad with said bin," Iralanda snarled. "Sounds great," Sarge said sarcastically. "Yep, really refreshing," Gavin said. "Adam, Aneil and Travis are missing," Amy said. "What? No they're not, they're outside, just help with the buckets," Adam said. Adam walked out with his glass of water and one of the buckets, followed by Gavin, who got the other medium bucket, Lightning and Leo got the first large bucket and Juan and Sarge got the second one. "How do you drink out of that?" Sally asked. "We don't drink it, we splash it," Adam corrected. "Splash it?" Lightning said, not sure what that was. "I'll show you," Adam said. Outside, Travis was kneeling on the ground, panting in and out and sweating very badly; Aneil was standing nearby, bent over, panting just as badly; Mater was leaning against a wall and Guido was lying on the ground on his back. "You know, leaning against a brick wall with the sun beating down on it all day isn't going to make you feel better," Kelly warned. "I wondered why I was getting warmer," Mater said, stepping away from the wall. "Why don't you take off your jacket?" Iralanda asked. "You can do that! How?" Mater asked, begging to know. "How? You don't know how? Who is this guy?" Juan asked. "My name is Mater," Mater stated proudly as he took off his jacket, finding out on his own. Adam and Gavin handed the medium buckets to Aneil and Travis who immediately splashed the contents on their heads, necks and shoulders. "SWEET RELIEF!" Travis shouted. "Let me try that!" Mater grabbed a large bucket and poured its contents all over himself. As he shook out his wet hair, he said "You were right Travis, this is better!" "What about Guido? I think he passed out while you were inside," Aneil said. "He did? I'll handle this," Adam said, finishing the last drop of his own water. He grabbed the last large bucket and carried it over to the unconscious Italian, where he poured the freezing water all over him. Guido shot up from the ground, screaming "(OH DODGE THAT'S COLD!)" "Well it has to be cold to cool you off," Aneil said. Guido glared at Adam and Aneil for a few moments before wringing the water from his hat. "What happened to you guys?" Lightning asked his friends. "Some kid named Harold told the driver we were sitting on the bumper and the driver chased us off into the desert," Mater explained. "Aiy, I knew it was him," Kelly said. "He's such a bully," Amy sneered. "He doesn't mean to be a bully, it's just that his spoiled life and ego got the best of him," Gavin said. "At least that's what we believe." "Sounds like a friend of ours named Francesco," Lightning said. "Well, I'm going to get back him and beat him," Leo said. "What?" Lightning asked, not sure what Leo meant. "Every weekend, all the teens in Sun Springs and Star City with a motorcycle gather at the dirt track for a race to see who is the fastest motorist," Leo said. "I'm in those races, and so is Adam." "Really, who won last week?" Lightning asked. "As expected, Dylan Barnes won, he's won every race ever Trenton quit racing after his big accident. He was one of the teens who helped carry you off the race track, along with our friends Samira and Bryan, during practice sessions," Leo explained. "Oh, does Trenton train you?" Sally asked. "No, he was there to make sure nobody got hurt and was ready to do first aid," Adam said. "I wasn't there that day because I needed to get one of my tires replaced and Aneil took too long!" "For the record, the tires I'm used changing are the ones for cars, not motorcycles," Aneil defended. "Thankfully, motorcycle races don't need pit stops," Iralanda confided to Luigi, "Otherwise it will be a while until everyone gets back on the track." "What was Trenton's big accident?" Lightning asked. "None of your business," snapped an unidentified voice. "Lightning turned around to see a boy that was tall lanky with medium brown hair and light brown eyes. Lightning was the first to notice the scars of stitches on his left leg. Dozens of freckles decorated his face. If it weren't for his negative frown, he would appear friendly. "I'm Trenton Garwood, the son of the doctor who is also the town judge in this town," Trenton said. Then, a girl with very pale skin, very short curly black hair, and green-brown eyes, donning a black t-shirt, shorts and boots. "And I'm Sara Marcov, daughter of the local fortune-tellers in this town," she said. "Is everyone here?" Trenton asked. Sally did a head count to be sure everyone was there. "Yep, we're all here," she concluded. "Good, because you all need to go to the courthouse and talk with our parents," Sara said darkly. "Should we come too?" Adam asked. "No, my dad said you'll just throw them off," Trenton said. "What about Mrs. Watson? She's still in the café," Flo said, recalling the owners recent yelling. "Actually, that's a walkie-talkie that's connected in the ceiling that transmits to the courthouse," Trenton explained. "Wow, that's new," Kelly said. "Why do they want to speak to us? We're just here to take down the Black Lord," Mater stated. "That's why they're here?" Adam asked Gavin, who nodded. "Exactly, but nobody trusts any of you to leave town to find him yet, especially after what happened to Mario Camilo, Ryan Buckminster, Savannah Betts, Scott Betts, Richard Upton, Katelyn Upton, Luke McKay, Tom Gale, and Yasmine Mohamet," Trenton stated. Lightning glanced at Leo, Iralanda, Gavin, Amy, Christopher, Kendra and Yasin, who all just looked at the ground, trying not to meet his gaze. "The courthouse is over there, you can let yourself in," Trenton said, pointing at a big brick building on the other side of town. Lightning looked back at his friends before everyone went over to the building to figure out what was going to become of them.


	9. Chapter 8

Chap. 7: The group of friends entered the building and started to go up the stairs to the courtroom. On the way, Lightning had a feeling they were being watched and turned his head to see if he was right. For a split second, he thought he saw Guido's reflection in a mirror, until he realized Guido was nowhere near the mirror, and that the man had no hat and brown hair, like Kendra. He disappeared instantly as everyone walked down another hallway. Clearly, Mr. Gale was a little shy around new people. On the next floor, something weird happened. As everyone was approaching the courtroom when they heard someone say "Do I have a brother?" making everyone jumped. The group turned around to see a man who looked exactly like Luigi! Only his suit was green. "Who are you?" Luigi asked, clearly freaked out. "Mario Camilo, I trust you know my daughter?" the man said. "Yeah, we met her a while ago…so, what happened to you and the other people that Trenton mentioned?" Lightning asked. In an instant, Mario snapped his fingers and disappeared in a second. "Was that a ghost?" Sally asked. "A ghost, oh please, there's no such thing," Sarge said. Everyone entered the courtroom to see a bunch of parents. Sarge recognized Mr. and Mrs. Joenns, mainly because he met them beforehand and they almost always were in uniform; There was a woman with blonde hair, wearing a flowery sundress and tie-dye headband who everyone assumed was Gavin's mother; Mr. Mohamet was in his cop uniform and wasn't that hard to miss; there was two African Americans with tattoos on their arms, so that made them most likely Mr. and Mrs. Shen, Quinton's parents; there was a man with slightly tan skin, bald, and sunglasses and a woman that looked like an older version of Kelly, which made them Mr. and Mrs. Watson; there was a woman with long black hair pulled back in two braids and wore a yellow dress, making her Mrs. Camilo; there was a man and woman with brown hair and judging by their expensive-looking clothing, were very rich and were Adam's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund; there was an Asia couple who were Aneil's parents; there was a woman with dirty blonde hair who Lightning guessed was Mrs. McKay, Leo's mother; there was a woman with brown hair who was Mrs. Gale; there were these two African Americans that Mater guessed were Mr. and Mrs. Mitchem; there was this couple who looked darkly at them, revealing that they were Sara's parents; and there was an elderly woman who was Amy's grandmother, Lydia. "Okay, we're here, what do you need to talk to us about?" Mater asked as cheerfully as possible, hopeful that it would make the tense mood change. Just then, the doors banged open and a man that looked like an older version of Trenton entered the room followed closely by a woman. "Oh a lot of things," the man said as he made his way to the judge's chair. "I'm Dr. Garwood, the judge and doctor of Sun Springs. I believe you've met my son, Trenton," "I see, now I've been told that you are on a quest to take down one of the country's worst mobsters, the Black Lord. Do you have any idea what you're dealing with?" Dr. Garwood said. "Our friend, Finn, said something about him the most feared mafia leader in the world," Mater said. "Do you know why?" Dr. G asked. "Finn didn't go into that much detail," Lightning admitted. "How about I enlighten you," Dr. Garwood said as Mrs. Garwood got a box and put it on the table in front of Sally. Sally took out its contents: dozens of newspapers. Each one had a different story: "Couple of Sun Springs Murdered In Front Of 3-Year-Old Son" featured a picture of a couple holing a 3-year-old in what seemed to be a picture before the murder. Sally knew the man was Richard Upton, Christopher's father, and when she saw the woman, she remembered what Holley's looked like: long wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail, only instead of purple hair, this woman had light brown hair; the next article said "Italian Shoe Store Owner Shot Dead In Front Of Daughter", Sally instantly recognized Mario Camilo in the before picture. According to the story, the Black Lord was on a rampage and was trying to mug the café, but Mario tried to stop him and ended up getting killed in the process in front of Iralanda, who was 4 at the time; "Motel Manager Thrown Into Mirror, Died On Impact", had a picture of Mr. Gale on it. It read that one of the Black Lord's henchmen had checked into the motel only to kill a guest, who owed money to the Black Lord, and Mr. Gale tried to stop him, but the henchmen threw him into a mirror and the broken shards impaled Mr. Gale badly. That happened when Kendra was 5; "Resident Hippie Shot And Bleeds To Death", Ryan Buckminster, the man in the picture who Holley said Fillmore was based off of, was just trying to feed the quails in the nearby coop when the Black Lord just walked up and shot at him several times. Ryan limped to the café where his wife screamed when she saw the sight of her husband and nearly fainted. Despite he had lost a lot of blood, he managed to tell his friends who did this to him and he died in his wife and neighbor's arms. Gavin was 6 when this happened; "Military Veteran And Wife Murdered, Disabled Daughter Left In The Care Of Grandmother", Savannah and Scott Betts were n he picture shown with Amy, who was 5 at the time, in the article. The Black Lord had broken into their curio shop, trying to rob it, but Scott, who was in the military and had a metal leg tried to stop, but the Black Lord broke the leg and killed him in a few shots. Savannah then attempted to stop him with a knife, but the Black Lord shot her too. One of the other residents, Jackson Joenns, heard the commotion and stormed the premises with a shot gun, in high hopes that he could help his fellow soldier, but when he got there, it was too late; Scott and Savannah were soaking in their own blood and the Black Lord was nowhere in sight. Lydia raced into the building and retrieved her granddaughter, who at that point was a crying wreck; "Female Cop Killed. So Close To Ending The Tyranny", according to the article, Yasmine Mohamet had found the location of the Black Lord and attempted to take him out, but she failed and was shot dead by the mobster and died in her husband's arms. Yasin was 8 at the time; the last newspaper read "Race Car Driver Killed from a Tampered Motorcycle, Black Lord Main Suspect", Luke McKay was just going around for and innocent ride on his motorbike when the engine exploded, taking him with it. Mr. Shen and Mr. Mitchem tried to put the flames out as fast as they could, but it was too late. Leo was 9 when he lost his father. "I'm sorry," Sally said softly as she put all the articles in the box. "See why the Black Lord is dangerous, and personally, we all think you're all crazy to go after that maniac. He hasn't killed anyone for 5 years, and we don't you to ruin that," Dr. Garwood stated. "And also nobody can stop the Black Lord, in case you didn't notice the one about the cop," Mr. Mohamet sneered. "Okay, we get it, the Black Lord killed some of your loved ones, we understand, but we can stop him and we have to stop him before he makes an alliance with a bad guy from our home," Lightning said. "And we have a plan on how!" "How?" Mr. Joenns questioned. Lightning had no idea what to do. Finn or Holley didn't mention one to them, he was hoping Sarge or Sheriff would step in with a plan, but judging by the silence from both, they got nothing. "What are your names, we didn't quite get them?" Dr. Garwood asked. "Lightning McQueen," "Mater," "Sally Carrera," "Luigi," "(Guido,)" "Ramone," "Flo," "Sheriff," "Sarge," "Fillmore," "Lizzie," "The big fella's Red," "So I see, well, since I can't trust you to leave town and move on with your 'plan', I have no choice but to hold you all here in town for a week," Dr. Garwood said. "A week, Dr. Garwood, you can't do this!" Lightning exclaimed. "I just did, so there's no objection now," the doctor said. "And while you're in town, if you do anything that threatens our children, you will be thrown out!" "What will we do for a week?" Mater asked. "Well, you could watch our kids, they always do something crazy and at least one thing ends up in flames at the end of the day," Mr. Mohamet stated. "Please tell me that's a phrase," Luigi pleaded. "After Dr. Garwood said that if we threaten your kids we'll have to leave, you trust us to watch them?" Lightning said. "Mohamet is right, someone has to make sure Travis doesn't release another stamped of cattle into Sun Springs again," Mr. Mitchem said. "And how recent was that?" Sally asked. "About a week ago." "We can do that, besides, they trust us already," Flo said. "Well, they're young, they don't know who's trustable yet," Mr. Joenns stated. "My son is very mature, he doesn't need to be watched," Dr. Garwood said. "Sounds alright, so, are we going to watch them all at once or we going to get assigned a kid?" Sally asked. "We'll decide who gets to watch who. We'll start with our youngest, Christopher," Dr. Garwood stated. "Well, I'm Christopher's legal guardian; I say it should be Red. They have some things in common," Lydia said. Red nodded. "Now Amy, she can't go too far, so we need someone to distract her with a lot stories so she never leaves," Lydia added. "Lizzie can do that, she has a lot of stories to tell," Sally offered. "Yasin will be watched by Sheriff. That kid will become a cop one day and he has to know what to do by then," Mr. Mohamet said. "Sara will not watching," Mr. Marcov insisted. "Quinton has a lot more in common with Ramone, so Ramone will watch him," Mr. Shen said. "Okay, esé," Ramone nodded. "Lightning reminds me of Luke, so it seems right to have him watch my son, Leo. Like you, Leo is big on racing, you could teach him to keep him occupied," Mrs. McKay said. "Sally will watch Kendra," Mrs. Gale said. "Are you sure you don't want Guido to?" Mrs. Marcov whispered to the woman. Mrs. Gale bit her lip, holding back tears. "I'm sure, and besides, Kendra wouldn't be able to understand him." "Travis will only listen to people who are like him, so Mater should watch him," Mr. Mitchem said. "Oh come on, I'm not that much like him. I never set a dozen cows free," Mater said. He felt his friend's eyes on him. "Okay, there was one time, but that was an accident." "Gavin only trusts hippies, so Fillmore should watch him," Mrs. Buckminster stated. "Of course," Sarge muttered under his breath. "My son has to know how to use his military skills, so Sarge should teach him," Mr. Joenns said. "Iralanda would be entrusted to Luigi," Mrs. Camilo said. "I will make-a sure she stays-a safe, signora," Luigi promised. "My daughter, Kelly, is very good, but she is a little clumsy as a waitress, and she's begging for help with her singing, and I think Flo could do both, if she can," Mrs. Watson said. "Adam will be watched by Lightning, because he too, has a passion for racing," Mr. Edmund said. "Considering Aneil is the only other person who can understand Guido, he shall be watched by Guido," Mrs. Jago said. "(I am up for it,)" Guido said. The parents looked at him, not sure what he said except for Mrs. Camilo. "He said he is up for it," she translated. "Well, that's it for this session, everyone clear the court," Dr. Garwood said. "But before that, I must warn you, there is a small gang of teens that come into town very often, picking on our kids, mostly Christopher, Amy, Yasin, Leo, Gavin, and Kendra." "Well keep them safer than a safe house," Lightning said.


	10. Chapter 9

That night, the cars-people went to bed in an old apartment that hadn't been occupied for years. It took everyone to figure how to sleep in the beds, but they got a good night's sleep. The next morning, they went to the café and had breakfast and Leo explained to them how to eat when their parents weren't around. Afterward, Lightning took Leo and Adam to the dirt track. Adam had a motorcycle that had the French, British and American flags patterned on it, and Leo's motorbike's paint job had a pattern similar to Lightning's paint job as a car. "Okay, like you told me, you both have trouble going around the corners of the dirt track, but lucky for you, I know a trick for that. If you push hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right," Lightning explained. "That doesn't make any sense," Adam stated. "That's what I thought when my teacher, Doc, told me," Lightning said. "Yes, thank you, or should I say no thank you, because in opposite world, that probably means thank you!" Leo exclaimed, revving the engine and driving off down the race track. "That's also what I said to Doc when he told me," Lightning added. "Crazy dude," Leo muttered. As he was coming up on the turn, he looked back to where Lightning and Adam were still standing. "Turn right to go left," he said. Then he did a sharp right and turned right into a nearby pond. Lightning and Adam rushed over and pulled the teen and his bike out of the water. "Turn right to go left. Guess what? I tried it, and you know what? This crazy thing happened. I went right!" Leo ranted maniacally. "Maybe it'd be better if I showed you," Lightning said. He got on Adam's motorcycle; he revved the engine and took off down the track. Adam and a wet Leo watched from the sidelines to see what would happen to their teacher. When Lightning got to the turn, he did the dirt trick and went around the corner. "He's as good as my dad was," Leo said, watching in awe. When Lightning got back to the starting line, Adam and Leo ran up to him asking "Were you a motorcycle racer?" "Um…no, I was a race car," Lightning stated casually. Adam and Leo thought he meant race car driver, so they rolled with it. "Now let's see if you can do it too."| In town, Fillmore was trying to teach Gavin how to make organic fuel, but he kept making small mistakes, such as too much of this or too little of that or it ended up on fire or nearly did. "Can you show me? I don't know what I'm doing," Gavin pleaded. "Alright," Fillmore said. He demonstrated to Gavin how to mix the organic ingredients more correctly. Meanwhile, Sarge was training Juan to go throw an obstacle course he set up with permission from Mr. Joenns. There were hurdles, climbing walls, and bars to grab. "This is your first course, right?" Sarge asked. "Yeah," Juan answered. "All you have to do is jump over the hurdles, climb over the wall, and swing through the bars," Sarge explained. "Sounds easy, just like gym class," Juan said. "That's what you think, but the course will be a lot harder than you think. I will be timing you on how fast you go, which I will tell your father," Sarge explained. "Your time starts…now!" Sarge shouted. Juan leapt over the hurdles barely touching them, jumped onto the climbing wall and climbing up it as fast as possible, then he grabbed onto the metal bars and swung from bar to bar with ease. When he got to the end, Sarge stopped the stopwatch and checked the teen's time. "1 minute and 50 seconds. Impressive," Sarge said. "Does this mean we're done?" Juan asked. "No, I need you to jog around that mesa 4 times, do 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups, and do the course again, to see if you got better or worse," Sarge stated. Juan felt ready to faint.| Flo and Kelly were in the café, giving the customers their food and drinks. Kelly struggled to keep holding the tray, but it was starting to shake in her hand. She knew she was going to drop the food on the floor. "Don't just your hand to hold the tray, use your lower arm," Flo advised the girl. Kelly did as she offered and to her surprise, the tray stopped vibrating and stayed still. She was glad she had Flo to teach her what to do.| Ramone was having Quinton practice his graffiti art on an old, rusty car that he found in the junkyard. Quinton did perfect ghost flames so far, but he was having trouble with the pinstripes Von Dutch style. "Just remember to put paper on the areas where there shouldn't be paint like the tires or bumpers," Ramone warned, pointing at the tires and bumper which had a few streaks of orange on them. "If I got paint on Iralanda's tires, she would beat my hide, man," Quinton stated. "Well, tires should either be black or have whitewalls," Ramone said. "No pink, no red, no ROY G BIV, no matter how cool that would be." The two of them laughed.| Guido had built a frame for Aneil to practice his tire changing on. "(Okay, Aneil, I need you to change these tires as fast as you can. Got it?)" Guido instructed. "Okay," Aneil said. He changed the tires on the frame as Guido timed him carefully. When the teen finished, Guido stated "(5 minutes.)" "That's not bad," Aneil said. "(Yes. But yellow flags only last for one lap, which would take 2 minutes, give or take. Let me show you my methods,)" Guido said. He took the stack of tires as Aneil took the timer. "GO!" Aneil shouted, starting the timer. Guido tossed the tires in the air like he did in the Piston Cup race and changed the tires very quickly, so quick he appeared to be a blur. When he finished, Aneil stopped the timer. His jaw dropped when he saw the time. "2.5 seconds!" he gasped. "(If you learn right, you could be as fast as me,)" Guido stated, grinning.| Luigi was showing Iralanda a few papers of instructions the crew chief gave racers and what they meant. "So, when there is a yellow flag, that means the car has a chance to pit," Iralanda said. "Yes, but that does not-a mean you can't pit the racer during the race. In case their tire blows or their gas is low," Luigi explained. "Just be careful; some racers tend to forget tires or choose to get some. Most of the time, they tend to blow before he finishes the race, and the axle gets a-damaged that way." "Ah, I see. Got it," Iralanda said.| Red was helping Christopher with the flowers and gave him some tips on how to keep them from wilting. At first, Christopher didn't trust him, but he eventually realized that Red was just as nervous as he was and that he reminded him of his father. And that was enough. Meanwhile, Lizzie was telling Amy about her stories about her and Stanley and their town, Radiator Springs. Surprisingly, Amy didn't get bored, and there some funny bits in the tales, mostly about the other residents moving into town from Doc Hudson to Lightning McQueen. She also taught Amy how to make bumper stickers and snow globes, which entertained the young girl.| Mater was teaching Travis how to do everything he knew, from finding UFOs, solve a mystery, wrestle, rock out, bull fight, and fly. Travis seemed to be having fun trying out all the cool stuff, and figured he'd need the skills for later in life, and Mater agreed.| Sally didn't exactly have anything to teach Kendra, so they just played a few games such as Go Fish, chess, checkers, backgammon, war, 21, and match. After a while, they both became extremely bored, so Sally decided to see how everyone else was doing. Leo and Adam were getting the hang of dirt racing, Gavin had made a perfect batch of organic fuel, Juan did better in the agility course, Kelly was brushing up on her waitress skills, Quinton had painted ghost flames, Aneil was getting faster in his tire changing skills, Iralanda had figured how to deal with difficult racers, Christopher had finished planting some more flowers, Amy had made a snow globe and a new bumper stick, and Mater had taught Travis how to bull fight. Sheriff and Yasin haven't found any crime, so Yasin wasn't learning much. Back at the café, Kendra convinced Sally to play M*A*S*H with her, with choices such as husband, home, city, job, # of kids, pet, and car. Sally chose Lightning, Francesco Bernoulli, the president and Marty for future husband, Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas and Sun Springs as cities, attorney, singer, dancer and actress as job, 1, 2, 3, and 4 for # of kids, cat, dog, parrot, and ferret as pet, and Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, and minivan as car. Then Kendra had her close her eyes so she makes tally marks to be the number. Afterward, Kendra went through the answers. "In the future, you'll live in a mansion in Sun Springs, working as an attorney, driving a Porsche, living with your pet dog, your 3 kids, and your husband, Lightning," Kendra stated. Sally blushed when she heard that she was set up with her boyfriend, but she wondered if she was right. Just then, everyone came to the café and Sally tore up the M*A*S*H paper to get rid of the evidence of the set up. "What were you playing?" Lightning asked. "M*A*S*H, want to try?" Kendra asked. "Sure." "Okay, pick 4 women you'd want to marry in the future," Kendra said. "Okay…Sally, of course, Carla Veloso, Misti Motorkrass, and…" Lightning stated. "J. Lo, do J. Lo, she's awesome," Adam said. "No! Pick Lindsey Lohan. She's starting to get hot again!" Aneil added. "Amanda Bynes!" Gavin shouted. "Hell no!" all the teens snapped. "I was just kidding. Pick Taylor Swift," Gavin defended. "No, Megan Fox, she's sexy," Quinton said. "Men are weird young," Kelly said. "Amen to that sister," Darrian muttered to the girl. "I think I'll go with J. Lo," Lightning concluded. "Yes!" Adam cheered. "Pick 4 cities." "L.A, Las Vegas, Sun Springs and New York City." "4 jobs." "Race car driver, president, entrepreneur, and actor." "# of kids." "1, 2, 3, and none." "4 types of pet." "Cat, dog, parrot, and monkey." "4 types of cars." "SUV, van, Porsche, and race car." After marking the tallies, Kendra came to a conclusion on Lightning's "future." "You will live in a house in Sun Springs, working as a race car driver, driving a SUV, living with your pet dog, 3 kids, and your wife, Sally!" Kendra announced. "Congratulations, McQueen!" Mater stated, sticking his hand out for a handshake. After that, Guido, Aneil, Iralanda, Fillmore, Gavin, Adam, Mater, and Travis tried out the game. Sally laughed when everyone got the futures were hoping for or not. Some cheered, like Mater who would get a house in Sun Springs, working in towing and salvage, driving a tow truck, married to Holley with their pet dog and 2 kids, some cried, like Aneil, who wouldn't be able to marry Brenda Song or get a job in a pit crew. Back in the Cars world, Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell were trying to figure out how to contact their friends; their communicators were out of range. "I don't understand, why haven't they gone on with the mission yet? Should we go in and help them?" Holley asked, worriedly. "There's probably heat on them. Or maybe these people don't trust them to leave yet," Finn suggested. "Yes, you're right, they'll signal us when they can, but still, the Black Lord could be half-way through his compromise with Axlerod by now," Holley warned. "Just give them a few days, Holley," Finn said. At the same time, Sir Axlerod found out his enemies were in the human world. "This can't be, how did the tow truck, and his friends find their way into the human world?" he asked Professor Zundapp. "Well, Sir Axlerod, it seems we have underestimated them. I would not be surprised if Finn McMissile had his own portal to the human world," Zundapp explained. "They're there to take down the Black Lord no doubt." "What's stopping them; they haven't changed position for a few days," Miles pointed out. "It seems the humans in Sun Springs appear to not trust them and are holding then hostage in the town. How about we take this opportunity to destroy their town?" Zundapp offered. "That would make me happier, send one of my squadrons to Radiator Springs to destroy as much of it as they can," Axlerod said. "Excellent, but let's warn our ally first about the problem. He will take care of them of them right away."


	11. Chapter 10

That night, the cars-people went to bed in an old apartment that hadn't been occupied for years. It took everyone to figure how to sleep in the beds, but they got a good night's sleep. The next morning, they went to the café and had breakfast and Leo explained to them how to eat when their parents weren't around. Afterward, Lightning took Leo and Adam to the dirt track. Adam had a motorcycle that had the French, British and American flags patterned on it, and Leo's motorbike's paint job had a pattern similar to Lightning's paint job as a car. "Okay, like you told me, you both have trouble going around the corners of the dirt track, but lucky for you, I know a trick for that. If you push hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right," Lightning explained. "That doesn't make any sense," Adam stated. "That's what I thought when my teacher, Doc, told me," Lightning said. "Yes, thank you, or should I say no thank you, because in opposite world, that probably means thank you!" Leo exclaimed, revving the engine and driving off down the race track. "That's also what I said to Doc when he told me," Lightning added. "Crazy dude," Leo muttered. As he was coming up on the turn, he looked back to where Lightning and Adam were still standing. "Turn right to go left," he said. Then he did a sharp right and turned right into a nearby pond. Lightning and Adam rushed over and pulled the teen and his bike out of the water. "Turn right to go left. Guess what? I tried it, and you know what? This crazy thing happened. I went right!" Leo ranted maniacally. "Maybe it'd be better if I showed you," Lightning said. He got on Adam's motorcycle; he revved the engine and took off down the track. Adam and a wet Leo watched from the sidelines to see what would happen to their teacher. When Lightning got to the turn, he did the dirt trick and went around the corner. "He's as good as my dad was," Leo said, watching in awe. When Lightning got back to the starting line, Adam and Leo ran up to him asking "Were you a motorcycle racer?" "Um…no, I was a race car," Lightning stated casually. Adam and Leo thought he meant race car driver, so they rolled with it. "Now let's see if you can do it too."| In town, Fillmore was trying to teach Gavin how to make organic fuel, but he kept making small mistakes, such as too much of this or too little of that or it ended up on fire or nearly did. "Can you show me? I don't know what I'm doing," Gavin pleaded. "Alright," Fillmore said. He demonstrated to Gavin how to mix the organic ingredients more correctly. Meanwhile, Sarge was training Juan to go throw an obstacle course he set up with permission from Mr. Joenns. There were hurdles, climbing walls, and bars to grab. "This is your first course, right?" Sarge asked. "Yeah," Juan answered. "All you have to do is jump over the hurdles, climb over the wall, and swing through the bars," Sarge explained. "Sounds easy, just like gym class," Juan said. "That's what you think, but the course will be a lot harder than you think. I will be timing you on how fast you go, which I will tell your father," Sarge explained. "Your time starts…now!" Sarge shouted. Juan leapt over the hurdles barely touching them, jumped onto the climbing wall and climbing up it as fast as possible, then he grabbed onto the metal bars and swung from bar to bar with ease. When he got to the end, Sarge stopped the stopwatch and checked the teen's time. "1 minute and 50 seconds. Impressive," Sarge said. "Does this mean we're done?" Juan asked. "No, I need you to jog around that mesa 4 times, do 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups, and do the course again, to see if you got better or worse," Sarge stated. Juan felt ready to faint.| Flo and Kelly were in the café, giving the customers their food and drinks. Kelly struggled to keep holding the tray, but it was starting to shake in her hand. She knew she was going to drop the food on the floor. "Don't just your hand to hold the tray, use your lower arm," Flo advised the girl. Kelly did as she offered and to her surprise, the tray stopped vibrating and stayed still. She was glad she had Flo to teach her what to do.| Ramone was having Quinton practice his graffiti art on an old, rusty car that he found in the junkyard. Quinton did perfect ghost flames so far, but he was having trouble with the pinstripes Von Dutch style. "Just remember to put paper on the areas where there shouldn't be paint like the tires or bumpers," Ramone warned, pointing at the tires and bumper which had a few streaks of orange on them. "If I got paint on Iralanda's tires, she would beat my hide, man," Quinton stated. "Well, tires should either be black or have whitewalls," Ramone said. "No pink, no red, no ROY G BIV, no matter how cool that would be." The two of them laughed.| Guido had built a frame for Aneil to practice his tire changing on. "(Okay, Aneil, I need you to change these tires as fast as you can. Got it?)" Guido instructed. "Okay," Aneil said. He changed the tires on the frame as Guido timed him carefully. When the teen finished, Guido stated "(5 minutes.)" "That's not bad," Aneil said. "(Yes. But yellow flags only last for one lap, which would take 2 minutes, give or take. Let me show you my methods,)" Guido said. He took the stack of tires as Aneil took the timer. "GO!" Aneil shouted, starting the timer. Guido tossed the tires in the air like he did in the Piston Cup race and changed the tires very quickly, so quick he appeared to be a blur. When he finished, Aneil stopped the timer. His jaw dropped when he saw the time. "2.5 seconds!" he gasped. "(If you learn right, you could be as fast as me,)" Guido stated, grinning.| Luigi was showing Iralanda a few papers of instructions the crew chief gave racers and what they meant. "So, when there is a yellow flag, that means the car has a chance to pit," Iralanda said. "Yes, but that does not-a mean you can't pit the racer during the race. In case their tire blows or their gas is low," Luigi explained. "Just be careful; some racers tend to forget tires or choose to get some. Most of the time, they tend to blow before he finishes the race, and the axle gets a-damaged that way." "Ah, I see. Got it," Iralanda said.| Red was helping Christopher with the flowers and gave him some tips on how to keep them from wilting. At first, Christopher didn't trust him, but he eventually realized that Red was just as nervous as he was and that he reminded him of his father. And that was enough. Meanwhile, Lizzie was telling Amy about her stories about her and Stanley and their town, Radiator Springs. Surprisingly, Amy didn't get bored, and there some funny bits in the tales, mostly about the other residents moving into town from Doc Hudson to Lightning McQueen. She also taught Amy how to make bumper stickers and snow globes, which entertained the young girl.| Mater was teaching Travis how to do everything he knew, from finding UFOs, solve a mystery, wrestle, rock out, bull fight, and fly. Travis seemed to be having fun trying out all the cool stuff, and figured he'd need the skills for later in life, and Mater agreed.| Sally didn't exactly have anything to teach Kendra, so they just played a few games such as Go Fish, chess, checkers, backgammon, war, 21, and match. After a while, they both became extremely bored, so Sally decided to see how everyone else was doing. Leo and Adam were getting the hang of dirt racing, Gavin had made a perfect batch of organic fuel, Juan did better in the agility course, Kelly was brushing up on her waitress skills, Quinton had painted ghost flames, Aneil was getting faster in his tire changing skills, Iralanda had figured how to deal with difficult racers, Christopher had finished planting some more flowers, Amy had made a snow globe and a new bumper stick, and Mater had taught Travis how to bull fight. Sheriff and Yasin haven't found any crime, so Yasin wasn't learning much. Back at the café, Kendra convinced Sally to play M*A*S*H with her, with choices such as husband, home, city, job, # of kids, pet, and car. Sally chose Lightning, Francesco Bernoulli, the president and Marty for future husband, Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas and Sun Springs as cities, attorney, singer, dancer and actress as job, 1, 2, 3, and 4 for # of kids, cat, dog, parrot, and ferret as pet, and Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, and minivan as car. Then Kendra had her close her eyes so she makes tally marks to be the number. Afterward, Kendra went through the answers. "In the future, you'll live in a mansion in Sun Springs, working as an attorney, driving a Porsche, living with your pet dog, your 3 kids, and your husband, Lightning," Kendra stated. Sally blushed when she heard that she was set up with her boyfriend, but she wondered if she was right. Just then, everyone came to the café and Sally tore up the M*A*S*H paper to get rid of the evidence of the set up. "What were you playing?" Lightning asked. "M*A*S*H, want to try?" Kendra asked. "Sure." "Okay, pick 4 women you'd want to marry in the future," Kendra said. "Okay…Sally, of course, Carla Veloso, Misti Motorkrass, and…" Lightning stated. "J. Lo, do J. Lo, she's awesome," Adam said. "No! Pick Lindsey Lohan. She's starting to get hot again!" Aneil added. "Amanda Bynes!" Gavin shouted. "Hell no!" all the teens snapped. "I was just kidding. Pick Taylor Swift," Gavin defended. "No, Megan Fox, she's sexy," Quinton said. "Men are weird young," Kelly said. "Amen to that sister," Darrian muttered to the girl. "I think I'll go with J. Lo," Lightning concluded. "Yes!" Adam cheered. "Pick 4 cities." "L.A, Las Vegas, Sun Springs and New York City." "4 jobs." "Race car driver, president, entrepreneur, and actor." "# of kids." "1, 2, 3, and none." "4 types of pet." "Cat, dog, parrot, and monkey." "4 types of cars." "SUV, van, Porsche, and race car." After marking the tallies, Kendra came to a conclusion on Lightning's "future." "You will live in a house in Sun Springs, working as a race car driver, driving a SUV, living with your pet dog, 3 kids, and your wife, Sally!" Kendra announced. "Congratulations, McQueen!" Mater stated, sticking his hand out for a handshake. After that, Guido, Aneil, Iralanda, Fillmore, Gavin, Adam, Mater, and Travis tried out the game. Sally laughed when everyone got the futures were hoping for or not. Some cheered, like Mater who would get a house in Sun Springs, working in towing and salvage, driving a tow truck, married to Holley with their pet dog and 2 kids, some cried, like Aneil, who wouldn't be able to marry Brenda Song or get a job in a pit crew. Back in the Cars world, Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell were trying to figure out how to contact their friends; their communicators were out of range. "I don't understand, why haven't they gone on with the mission yet? Should we go in and help them?" Holley asked, worriedly. "There's probably heat on them. Or maybe these people don't trust them to leave yet," Finn suggested. "Yes, you're right, they'll signal us when they can, but still, the Black Lord could be half-way through his compromise with Axlerod by now," Holley warned. "Just give them a few days, Holley," Finn said. At the same time, Sir Axlerod found out his enemies were in the human world. "This can't be, how did the tow truck, and his friends find their way into the human world?" he asked Professor Zundapp. "Well, Sir Axlerod, it seems we have underestimated them. I would not be surprised if Finn McMissile had his own portal to the human world," Zundapp explained. "They're there to take down the Black Lord no doubt." "What's stopping them; they haven't changed position for a few days," Miles pointed out. "It seems the humans in Sun Springs appear to not trust them and are holding then hostage in the town. How about we take this opportunity to destroy their town?" Zundapp offered. "That would make me happier, send one of my squadrons to Radiator Springs to destroy as much of it as they can," Axlerod said. "Excellent, but let's warn our ally first about the problem. He will take care of them of them right away."


	12. Chapter 11

The next morning, Lightning was on his way to the café and go to the race track to see this week's Saturday motorbike when he saw the Garwood's garage door open and found Trenton fiddling with a blue motorcycle. "Are you sure your father wouldn't mind you racing this weekend?" Lightning asked. "He would mind, but I'm just trying to figure out what caused my accident. When I was racing that day, Kelsey Hawkeye's bike rubbed against mine and in less than a few seconds, it popped! Before I could stop it, it flipped over and crushed my leg. It didn't shatter my leg, but it did shatter my pride and dignity. Even after my leg healed, my dad still won't let me race, and even if he did, my friends won't believe me that I can still race as good as I used to," Trenton explained. Lightning realized that there was a similarity with Trenton's story and Doc Hudson. "You know, I used to know this grumpy old race car driver who had a similar accident. When he got better, he went back expecting a big welcome, but they said he was history and went to the next rookie standing in line. He still had a lot left in him and he never got to show them. For years, he stayed hidden in a small town, which was clueless about his past, until I came. He had a grudge against race cars and wanted me to leave as soon as possible. He even called the reporters and told them where I was! Then, after I was gone, all my new friends, the other people with me, were upset to see me leave and he realized he did a bad thing. On my big race, I was pit crew-less and crew chief-less, so I had a chance of losing it all. I was out of the race for a while until I heard him on the headset! I looked at my pit and saw him along with all my friends as my pit crew! They had come to help me and cheer me on! After the race, I went back to that town and stayed there. He's not with us anymore, but his spirit is still there and it always will be," Lightning told the teen. "Too bad, I would have liked to meet him. He sounds like a great guy," Trenton said. "Maybe one day I'll get back on the track to do another race." Trenton glanced down at the popped wheel and his eyes widened. "It's torn!" he exclaimed. "What is?" Lightning had to know. "The tire! Part of the rubber looks like it got torn open, not popped. Only a blade could do that," Trenton explained. "Didn't you say Kelsey Hawkeye rubbed you before it popped?" Lightning asked. "Yeah…" "Adam told me Kelsey is known to cheat so…" "Hawkeye cheated!" both guys concluded. "We have to warn the others, no doubt, she got rid of me because I always won the races, but now since Dylan Barnes wins them, he'll be her next targets!" Trenton said. "We have to get to the track and warn everyone!" Lightning stated. "We'll use my spare motorbike, it has a side car!" Trenton said pulling a gray tarp off an unidentified object revealing a motorbike. At the dirt track, all the cars-people were standing on a ledge over-looking the race. "I hope all of Leo and Adam's training will pay off and one of them will win. Then Sun Springs will make-a its way back to the top of the racing charts again. Leo told you guys that this town and Star City used to be one of the top racing cities in the U.S, no," Iralanda said. "He may have mentioned it," Luigi lied. "I wonder what tricks Kelsey has up her sleeves this time," Kelly sneered. "Who is she, exactly? You never went into detail," Sally asked. "She's a racer that cheats at least once to attempt to win. There's a rumor that her father is the Black Lord," Sara stated coldly. When all the racers got in their starting positions, Iralanda ran down to start the race. "Everyone, on your marks, get set, uno for the money, dos for the show, tre to get ready, and cuatro for the-!" she started to chant when everyone heard Trenton holler "STOP!" He rode onto the track with Lightning sitting in the side car. "Trenton, did you finally talk your dad into letting you race again?" a girl named Samira asked. "No, something's going to go wrong and I have to prevent it!" Trenton stated. "Since when are you psychic?" a chubby girl with long brown hair, bad teeth, and fat cheeks sneered. "Because, Kelsey, you were going to cheat to win. The same way you did with me, but to Dylan," Trenton snarled. Everyone gasped. Kelsey huffed and drove off. "She's getting away!" Amy shouted. "Stop! Stop in the name of the law!" Yasin shouted jumping onto the track to try to get the girl to stop. When she ignored him, he snapped. "Oh who am I kidding, she won't stop anyway!" "She's going around the track!" Aneil stated. "Let's go after her, I know what's going to happen to her," Trenton said, going after her. Kelsey got to the turn Leo and Adam had trouble going around before and attempted to make it, but she didn't know how and she ended up skidding into the dirt! Kelsey flew off her bike and landed in a bunch of brush where Trenton hopped off his motorbike and grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the others. He revealed small blades on the rims and hubcaps of the motorcycle and explained how it caused it him to spin out. After he finished, Kelsey broke free of his grip and rode her bike off out of the desert. "And don't even think off coming back bee-atch!" Adam shouted. "Well, Trenton, you proved to us that you can still race," Dylan, a tall kid with dark brown hair said. "Do you want back in?" Just then, Lightning got out of the sidecar and Aneil disconnected it from the motorcycle. Trenton grinned and revved the engine loudly. Everyone cheered and got ready for the race again. "Wow, if Lightning can talk Trenton into joining in on the races again, I wonder if he can convert the Condrey Gang," Kendra said.


	13. Chapter 12

"Who is the Condrey Gang?" Lightning asked. "They're this small group of kids that like to wreak havoc in town. There's Jasmine, the oldest, Kassie, the second oldest, Darren, the third oldest, and Milly, the youngest. They always pick on us, mostly Yasin, Gavin, Iralanda, Christopher, Amy, Leo and me," Kendra explained. "I think Dr. Garwood warned us about them," Sally said. "I'm not surprised, they always endanger other teens." "And they are also related. They're quadruplets," Travis added. "(Haven't you even tried to deal with them?)" Guido asked. "Yeah, but they're tougher than us, so tough, Juan's oldest sister, Darrian won't deal with them!" Aneil stated. "Just like the Tuner Gang, eh Sheriff," Ramone said to the cop. "Maybe too much like the Tuner Gang," Sheriff said. For two days, nobody has seen any sign of the Condrey Gang and thought none of them would show until one afternoon. Everyone was outside the café, finishing up their lunch and discussing lessons, when there was the sound of motorcycles on approach. Juan climbed up a nearby tree with a telescope and looked to see who it was. "C-O-N-D-R-E-Y! C-O-N-D-R-E-Y!" Juan spelled out immediately. "The teens jumped out of their seats and tried to cross the street, but before anyone knew it, four motorcycles started to go around them so fast they only saw blurs purple, black, blue, green, lavender, and orange. When the motorcycles stopped, it was revealed that the drivers were some teens with tricked out motorbikes. One was a tall girl with black hair in short dreadlocks, brown skin, dark brown eyes and wearing a purple and black hoodie, blue jeans and purple high-top sneakers with a purple and black motorbike. The second was another girl with dark brown hair in long, thin braids, light brown skin, brown eyes, a light green hoodie with a flame pattern similar to Wingo's, jeans, and light green sneakers with a motorbike with a paint job like Wingo's. The third kid was a boy with short black hair, brown skin, dark brown eyes, a blue hoodie, jeans, and blue Reebok sneakers and a blue motorcycle. The last one was another girl who was short with black hair pulled in four thick braids, brown skin, brown eyes, an orange t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and orange sandals with an orange motorcycle with a supercharger. "Well, I haven't seen you dorks ever since the school blew up," the tall girl sneered. "Yeah, we know Jasmine," Juan grumbled. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be dead or something?" the second girl asked Luigi very rudely. "That's Luigi, not my dad, Kassie," Iralanda stated. "Oh, so is he his brother or cousin or something, because he looks like him," the boy remarked. "They're not related, Darren, now step off!" Yasin shouted. "OH! Did you just tell me to step off, because if you did I will whoop you like last time," Darren threatened. "You wouldn't," Kelly said. "Trust me, Kelly, don't tick him off. Best heed his warning," the last girl warned not at all meanly. "Thanks for the tip, Milly," Leo said. "If you cause any trouble, I'll…I'll…" Aneil said. "Do nothing, as always. Not so tough without your big bro here to protect you aren't you," Jasmine said. "Gan left? I didn't know that," Milly admitted. "He in college or something, like Kelly's sisters?" "No, he allegedly left," Aneil stated. "Milly is sort of not that bad, she's just sort of dragged along by her sisters and brothers," Trenton muttered to Lightning. "You are all pathetic," Kassie insulted. "Stop being mean!" Amy shouted. "Or what? Christopher will go crying to his mommy…wait, where's your mama, Chrissie, is she dead. Well, you'll be okay as long as you got your dad…Oh how could I be so clueless? He's dead too! You got no one!" Jasmine said. She, Kassie and Darren laughed. Milly just rolled her eyes. Lightning got angrier the more the Condrey Gang bullied the teens; he also noticed that Christopher was starting to cry. "Hey, didn't anyone tell you it's bad to bully. My dad told me that," Gavin stated. "Did he also tell you he was dead?" Kassie asked. Gavin gasped in horror. "In fact, I think Iralanda, Leo, Kendra, and Amy's dads got murdered too." "And Yasin and Amy's moms," Darren added. The teens whose dead parents were mentioned looked at the ground; Amy's crutches also started to shake. "Oh please, if you make fun of us for missing parents, them where's your dad, T.J. Condrey?" Juan asked. Darren glared at the boy and swaggered over to him. "What did you say?" he questioned. "Where is your dad, Darren, did you lose him too?" Juan asked. Darren scowled at him before grabbing him by the collar of his t-shirt and lifting him off the ground. "Ask me that again and see what happens!" he threatened. "Darren, put him down! You promised!" Milly demanded. "Stay out of this, Milly!" Darren snapped. "That's it; I've had enough of this. It's about time somebody taught you four how to respect others!" Lightning snapped, getting up from his seat and grabbed Darren by the hood of his hoodie, making him drop Juan. Then he grabbed Jasmine and Kassie's hoods and dragged them toward the courthouse with Milly following close behind. "Why'd I wear a hoodie?" Jasmine said, trying to keep her hoodie from choking her. Lightning dragged them behind the building where he released them. "Okay, something has happened in your lives and it seems to involve your father, T.J. Condrey. What happened?" Lightning questioned. "None of your business!" Kassie snarled. "It is now. Tell me why you bully kids and mostly pick on them about their perished parents," Lightning demanded to know. "You really want to know? Fine, I'll tell you!" Jasmine gave in. "Our dad T.J., he was a gangsta dude until he met our mama. He was a good guy for years until we were 6. Then, the Black Lord made him work for gangs again, but as a gangster, not a gangsta. That went on for a few years, until the Black Lord must've thought T.J. knew too much, so he told the cops about him and the fuzz went after him one night. They chased him to the edge of a canyon and he just stood there until they fired at will. His body fell down the canyon. If the bullets didn't kill him, the fall did. So, in a sense, we lost our dad to the Black Lord, and we've been upset ever since. We pick on those to let off steam and it works most of the time." "You don't have to pick on kids to feel better after your father died. I mean, I don't think he'd want his kids to bully others," Lightning said. "Told you!" Milly snapped. "You didn't want to bully?" Lightning asked the girl. "Yeah, I sort of play the good cop in situations like these." "One day, you'll see the world differently and see that you use kindness and compassion to get ahead in life. Not violence. Not hate," Lightning said. "You do have a point…" Darren admitted. "You better clean up your act by apologizing to those kids," Lightning said. "Are you sure they'll forgive us? We've picked on them ever since we were all 12, Sara was 11, and Christopher and Amy were 10," Kassie stated. "They're good kids, I'm sure they'll forgive you…I think," Lightning said. "Did anyone tell you how reassuring you are, because you are very reassuring," Milly said. "Okay, cut the sarcasm, and let's get back to the others." Lightning said. The 5 of them went back into Sun Springs." "I see you brought them all back in one piece. Did you just scold the daylights out of them?" Sally asked. "Yep, and they have something to say," Lightning said. "We're sorry," the Condrey Gang said in unison. "Sorry?" Leo said, confused by the bullies' sudden politeness. "We're sorry for picking on you guys about your families. We only did that because we lost our dad, too. To the Black Lord too," Jasmine explained. "I didn't know that, I heard rumors but I didn't know they were true," Juan said. "Yeah, and we're sorry. We understand if you don't forgive us and we'll leave and never come back if you don't," Darren said. The teens left the area and discussed what they heard and came back a few minutes later. "Well, since you apologized and have been honest with us, I guess we can," Trenton said. "YAY!" Milly exclaimed. "Thanks Trent," Darren said. "But don't call me Trent," Trenton said. "So, now since we're friends, what do we do?" Travis asked. "Play a game?" Adam suggested. "I got enough wood to build a basketball hoop, then we can play hoops," Aneil said. "You can do that?" Kassie asked. "I was the best in the Tech. Ed class, of course I can." After the teens went with Aneil to get the wood and tools. "Well, what do you know," Flo said happily. "Hey, if Lightning can change the Condrey Gang, then maybe he could-," Mater started to say until Sheriff interrupted saying. "Nobody can change the Tuner Gang." Just then, Mr. Mohamet came over. "Why is the Condrey Gang hanging out with the kids?" he questioned. "I converted them, apparently they were being mean to get over their father's death," Lightning explained. "T.J. Condrey is dead? I didn't know that, well, you did do something good, so I'll let this slide. Maybe keeping you here wasn't a mistake after all," the cop said, leaving. "A mistake?" Sally said, "What do you think he meant?" "Maybe nobody trusted us as much before, but I think they will now," Lightning guessed.


	14. Chapter 13

It didn't take long for all the parents to hear what Lightning did, and they were all impressed, including Dr. Garwood. Well, everyone except for Mr. Jago. He blamed his wife and son for helping Guido and for what happened to his eldest son, Gan; two years ago, Gan Jago ran away from home and ever since then, Mr. Jago and Mrs. Jago argue at least once a week at night. Sometimes Aneil got involved. The arguments got so loud, the Camilos, the Joenns, the Buckminsters and Shens heard it. That day would be one of those days. After the Condrey Gang went home, everyone head to be. "Well, today was a great day," Sally said inside the cars-people's apartment. "Yeah, I'm glad something worked out over the week, now if we could solve the problem with the Black Lord," Lightning said. Then, the once-race car noticed something. "Hey, what's up with Guido?" He noticed the Italian had tensed and was looking at the window. "What is it?" Luigi asked his friend. Sally looked out the window to see the Jagos' house lights still on. She opened the window to hear arguing. "Is that the Jagos'?" Mater asked. "Sounds like it," Sally said. Just then, Darrian, Anna, Sela and Cydney Joenns, and Iralanda ran into the building. "Oh I forgot-a you were here," Iralanda said. "Is that from the Jagos?" Sally asked. "Yeah, they argue at least once a week for no good reason. I think this one is about you guys, though," Sela said. "Couldn't Juan, Gavin and Quinton hear that?" Flo asked. "Yeah, but they're brave, they can take it," Cydney said. Just then, Juan, Gavin and Quinton ran in. "Or not," Darrian said. "We came because we saw the girls run in here and wanted to make sure they were okay," Quinton lied. "Yep, I care about my sisters that much," Juan added. "And I think of his sisters as mine," Gavin threw in. "No you don't," Juan sneered. "I wonder who will get hit this time." Anna wondered. "Wait, someone always gets hit in these fights?" Sally asked "Either Aneil or Mrs. Jago," Anna explained. "(What do you mean by hit?)" Guido asked. Before anyone could answer, Aneil entered the building. "Hey guys, how are you doing?" he asked casually. "What happened to your forehead?" Iralanda asked him. Aneil had a bandana tied around his forehead. "It's called fashion," Aneil said. Sela pulled the bandana off his head, revealing a bloody gash on the side of his forehead. "That's what I mean by hit," Anna said. "Did your father do that?" Sally asked. "Yeah, he always does that. He hits my mother too," Aneil admitted. "It's not a big deal." "Yes it is! No parent should hit their children, not even if they deserve it," Flo snapped. "I'll get Dr. Garwood to give you something for that," Sally said, leading the teen out of the building. After she got him to Dr. Garwood, she went around Sun Springs and asked if anyone knew about it. Surprisingly, they did! One time, Mr. Mohamet tried to put it to a stop, but Mr. Jago knew judo. After that, nobody had the wits to confront the man, not even Mr. Joenns. Guido wanted to confront the man and make him pay for hurting Aneil, but his friends told him it would most likely end up with him with worse injuries than Aneil. That night, the teens that ran into the apartment spent the night in the lobby of the apartment to get past another night of rage.


	15. Chapter 14

The next day, the sixth day in Sun Springs, a strange thing happened. All the cars-people and teens, including the Condrey Gang, decided to head down to the dirt track early that morning to watch Leo, Adam and now Trenton practice for next Saturday's race. The Condrey Gang wanted to try out the track too, because they wanted to race too. When they got there, they saw that a man nobody recognized immediately sitting on a red motorcycle on the starting line. "Who's he?" Lightning asked. "I don't know, but he looks like you in the face, and has dirty blonde hair like Leo," Adam stated. "There's a name plastered on the back of his jacket," Trenton muttered, squinting at the man. "It says…Luke McKay." "My dad?" Leo asked. Then, the motorcycle's engine revved and the motorbike racer took off down the track very fast. Everyone watched in awe as the motorist drove through the dirt, causing dust to kick up. He went around the corners with ease and when he got to the starting line again, the dust engulfed him, and when it cleared, he was gone. "What. Was. That?" Jasmine asked, freaked out by what she just witnessed. "I think it was a ghost of my father," Leo said. "Well, that was weird, and then again, I've seen a UFO before," Mater stated. "Really!" Travis exclaimed. "NO!" Juan snapped. "Didn't we see a ghost that claimed to be Mario Camilo?" Fillmore asked. "You saw my Papa!" Iralanda gasped. "We think we did, for all we knew, we could have still been suffering from the heat," Sheriff said. "Where did you see this ghost?" Aneil asked. "In the courthouse," Sally answered. "Let's go check it out!" Gavin stated. "What about racing practice?" Adam asked. "That can wait, Adam!" At the courthouse, everyone made a plan to find Mr. Camilo. "Where did you see him?" Kendra asked. "On the second floor on our way to the courtroom," Sally stated. "He seemed surprised that Luigi looked a lot like him." "Okay, so Luigi will go first into each hallway," Travis suggested. "Fine, but if-a he possesses me, I will-a smack you all," Luigi warned. Luigi very hesitantly lead the group up to the second floor. Iralanda walked next him, wanting to catch a glimpse of her father first. When they finally got there, there was no sign of the man. "Maybe he changed floors," Fillmore said. "Maybe you're all crazy," Kassie said. "I have an idea," Travis said, closing all the curtains and turning out all the lights. "I saw this in a movie once." He stood in front of a mirror with a long glare. Then chanted "Mario Camilo, Mario Camilo, Mario Camilo!" For a few moments, the mirror fogged up, then it cleared immediately at the same time as a man who looked like Guido but with brown hair, wearing a darker shade of blue and was hatless stuck his head out of the mirror saying, "That won't work!" making Travis scream with fear and fall backward. "HA! Classic!" Thomas Gale laughed. "Dad!" Kendra snapped. "What? Was he a friend of yours?" Mr. Gale asked. Kendra shook her head and laughed. "Sure, go ahead and laugh at me. I nearly lost two years of my life," Travis said sarcastically, standing up again. "Not the most dignified twit is he?" a voice said. Luigi turned around to see Mario Camilo standing no more than 2 feet away. "Ciao," the man greeted. Luigi fainted instantly. "Does he always do that?" he asked. "(Only when he's really frightened,)" Guido stated. "(Like, I don't know, a certain redneck as you call them, jumps out from behind a wall of tires howling.)" "I think he's talking about you, Mater," Iralanda said. "Shoot, you fainted too!" Mater protested. "And you fainted from just holding your breath for 5 seconds," Lightning added. Guido was about to say something when he felt someone grab his shoulders from behind, scaring him so badly, he screamed and jumped so high he managed to grab onto a hanging light. "Whoa, I only see quails jump that high," said a man with blonde hair, wearing a long-sleeved, white tunic, a burlap vest, blue jeans, and flip-flops. "Dad!" Gavin gasped. "Get me out of here!" Juan pleaded. "Stay cool, dude, I'm no poltergeist…I think," Ryan Buckminster insisted. "I'm not scared that you're a ghost," Juan snarled. "Oh! You're Jackson's kid! Exactly how I thought you'd turn out: a military brat," Mr. Buckminster stated. "That's what I thought!" Gavin agreed. "(Excellent, another ghost. Can I go?)" Guido asked. "…Are you Russian?" Ryan asked. "(No, I'm Italian!)" Guido snapped, now hanging upside down on the light. "Guido, you look like and angry bat when you flail our arms and hang upside down like that," Aneil stated. "A bat that's frustrated because it's feet is stuck on a ceiling that just got painted," Juan added. "Don't ask me how I know that." "Poor little bat," Gavin sighed. "It was so young when your father SHOT IT!" "It could have hurt me and my sisters mind you!" Juan argued. "Not if it was stuck to the ceiling!" "What if it got free?" "It'll try to get out through a window!" "No it wouldn't!" "I'm guessing 'like father, like son' applies to these two?" Mr. Camilo said. "Yeah, big time," Jasmine stated. "(Can somebody get me down?)" Guido asked. Adam picked up a paperweight sitting on a table and threw it at the light, knocking the Italian loose and causing him to fall and land on his back. "(OW...grazie,)" he muttered. "Why are you here?" Gavin asked Mr. Gale and his dad. "I normally hang out in places where there are mirrors. I show up when I want to or when some says my name three times in front of a mirror," Mr. Gale explained. "I show up wherever I please, except in Jackson's house, darn shame. I wanted to scare him so much," Mr. Buckminster said. "I could lure him over here," Gavin suggested. "No you won't!" Juan snapped. "Who's this guy? A friend of Jackson's," Ryan pointed at Sarge. "No, he's just stopping by. Supposedly he and his friends are going to kill the Black Lord," Adam explained. "WHAT!" Ryan, Mario and Thomas shrieked. "Are you crazy? Nobody can fight the Black Lord, nor would anyone in their right mind would do it," Mario warned. "In case you didn't know, he shot me to death!" Mr. Buckminster stated. "He shot me as well," Mario added. "And one of his henchmen threw me into a mirror," Mr. Gale said. "Well he got you by surprise, this time we'll take him by surprise," Lightning stated. "Is that your whole plan?" Mr. Camilo asked. "Unfortunately yes," Lightning sighed. "It's a wonder he didn't kill you already," Mario said, rubbing his forehead. "Do you know where we can find the ghost of Mr. and Mrs. Betts, Mr. and Mrs. Upton, and Mrs. Mohamet?" asked Yasin. "Yasmine is behind the building, and Savannah, Scott, Richard, and Katelyn are in the garden," Mr. Gale said. "We'll go see them right now," Amy said, hobbling out of the room. "Thanks for the help, Papa," Iralanda said. "Good luck on your mission. Don't forget your friend," Mario said, pointing at the still unconscious Luigi. Guido and Mater dragged him out of the room while Ryan and Mario disappeared into thin air in the snap of a finger and Thomas stepped back into the mirror and vanished. A few minutes later, Luigi became conscious and asked what happened. "Well, my dad scared Guido so badly he jumped and clung to a light," Gavin stated. "Now we're going to see Mrs. Mohamet," Leo stated. The group of friends went behind the courthouse, trying to find Yasmine. "Maybe she moved," Kassie suggested. "Mom! Are you here?" Yasin asked. Then, as if by those words, a woman that had a striking resemblance to Flo, but wearing a police uniform, walked out from the brush. "Yasin?" she said. "Oh, she is still here," Gavin said. "Hi mom, it is good to see you as a ghost," Yasin stated. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?" Mrs. Mohamet asked. "Yeah, because I can see you again," Yasin said. "Well, how are you? I heard about the school blowing up. Did they catch the bozo that did that?" Yasmine asked her son. "Who are you calling a bozo?" Gavin asked, clearly offended. "Okay, you're the last person I expected to do that. I thought a crazy janitor or those four to do it," Mrs. Mohamet said. She said 'those four' while pointing at the Condrey Gang. "That was you?" Milly asked, shocked. "Accident!" Gavin shouted. "Well, we're going to see the Uptons and Betts in the garden, I'll see you another time," Yasin said. As the teens and cars-people left, Mrs. Mohamet disappeared into thin air. On the way, Quinton noticed something about Yasin. "Dude, are you crying?" he asked. "No, "I'm happy! My mother is a ghost! I'm glad she's okay!" Yasin denied instantly. "Wow, de ja vu," Lightning said. "What do you mean?" Leo asked. "I'll explain later." At the garden, everyone immediately saw two couples sitting on the benches. "My son grows the most beautiful flowers," said a woman with long wavy hair that was colored light brown. "Yeah, but Amy could plant even better flowers," said a woman that looked like Sally but with blonde hair and wore black and white. "Oh please, she couldn't tell the difference between a dandelion and a buttercup," said a man that resembled Red but with brown hair and a blue shirt. "Hi Mom, hi Dad," Amy greeted her parents. "Amy, tell me, what's the difference between a dandelion and a buttercup?" asked a man with light blonde hair and a metal leg. "Um…I don't know," Amy said. Richard Upton pointed his hand at her and looked at Scott Betts as if saying "See what I mean?" "How's my little boy?" Katelyn Upton asked her son. "Okay?" Christopher nodded, but said nothing. "Still mute I see," she said. "He's been mute for 9 years now," Juan stated. "He'll talk when he needs and has to," Amy said. "Like if he'll ever see President Obama?" Travis asked. "Or the Queen?" Kendra added. "Or the Pope," Iralanda threw in. "Or Oprah!" Adam cheered. "Oprah?" Gavin said. "Who wouldn't talk to Oprah?" Adam explained. "Good point, I mean, Obama, the Queen, and the Pope might understand that he can't and won't talk," Trenton said. "Yeah, if you see Oprah, you just got to say something to her," Milly said. "I'm guessing Oprah is really popular here?" Sally said. "You're saying that you've never heard of Oprah," Adam said. "That's because I haven't," Sally admitted. The teens all gasped. "I've never seen her shows or read her magazine, but even I know who she is!" Jasmine exclaimed. "Moving the subject away from Oprah," Mr. Upton said. "I think you should go to the mesa over there at sunset." "At the mesa, why? We've found everyone," Leo said. "Not everyone, Leonardo," Mr. Betts said. As everyone left the garden, Christopher whipped out a small pad of paper from his pocket and wrote something on it, and then he showed it to Leo. "Leonardo?" it read. "Shut up, Christopher," Leo mumbled. "Dude, he shut 9 years ago, get with it," Adam joked. At sunset, everyone went down to the mesa Richard pointed at earlier and saw a man sitting at the edge of the mesa. He had brown skin, short black hair, and was wearing a Redskins jersey, blue jeans, and red sneakers. "Hey, our dad had a jersey like that," Darren said. "He kind of looks like dad too," Kassie stated. Then, the Condrey Gang looked at each other for a few seconds before scrambling to the top of the mesa. When they got there, they realized that it was T.J. Condrey sitting on the mesa. "Dad?" Jasmine asked. "Yeah, Jasmine?" he responded. "What happened to you? The cops went after you one night," Milly asked. "Well, you were right, I did work for the Black Lord, but he didn't kill me because I knew too much, it was because I quit. Biggest mistake I made yet, but if he didn't kill me, he would have sent people to get you and your mother, so I let him call the cops and tell them my location, another problem. You were right about me getting shot and falling down a canyon, too," T.J. explained. "Well lucky for you, those guys down there are on a mission to take the Black Lord down for good. They'll avenge you," Darren stated. "Are you sure? Nobody can kill the Black Lord," Mr. Condrey said. "Well, we have faith in them and we believe they can," Kassie said. "In that case, if they ever catch him and he's still alive a little, be sure that each of you gives him a good, hard whack upside the head from me," T.J. said. "We will," Jasmine promised. Then the man smiled before disappearing into thin air. The four teens climbed down from the mesa and rejoined their friends. "He said if you guys catch the Black Lord, we get to whack him on the side of the head," Kassie said. "So he believes in us?" Lightning asked. "Not exactly, but he hopes you'll do it," Milly explained. "Well, it's getting late, we better head home," Sally said. "I can't wait to tell my parents I went ghost hunting," Travis stated. "They probably won't believe me, but they'll be entertained." After dinner, everyone went to bed, but little did they know, Axlerod and the Black Lord were planning something. "So, my new enemies think they can defeat me, well they got another thing coming; I have a plan to kidnap those teens they've been babysitting for a week and hold them all hostage at my hideout. I will tell them that if they don't come and surrender, I'll kill them. When they get here, as expected and surrender, I will kill the teens right in front of them and them kill those cars!" the Black Lord told Sir Axlerod. "Excellent scheme, but how do you know they'll fall for it?" the 1978 Bradford car asked. "Because, Yasmine Mohamet fell for it, and if they're just as gullible as she is, it will work." "I see, some of those teens are the children of some people you have killed or caused to die in the past, you know," Miles said. "I know, I'll even get that Trillo kid, the Marcov kid and those Condrey kids to make it more problems some," the Black Lord added. "Good luck, I hope you shoot that tow truck like a wire fence."


	16. Chapter 15

The next morning, everyone woke up and went to the café in a good mood; this was their last day in Sun Springs and after that, they would leave and find the Black Lord. But for some reason, Lightning got a feeling that something wasn't right. His suspicions were confirmed when he entered the café to see all the parents of the teens acting upset. He also noticed that the teens were nowhere in sight ad that Harold Trillo's parents were there as well. "What's going on? Where are the kids?" Lightning asked. Mrs. Joenns crumpled up a piece of paper she was holding and threw it at Lightning who ducked, letting the projectile hit Guido. "This is all your fault!" she shouted. "What is our fault?" Mater asked, jumped by the woman's yells as Sarge picked up the paper ball and flattened it out so it'd be easier to read. He read it aloud so the others could hear. "Dear Adults of Sun Springs, I have kidnapped your children and are currently holding them hostage at my hideout. I'll guarantee their safety if you hand over your guest, Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, Sally Carrera, Luigi, Guido, Sarge, Fillmore, Ramone, Flo, Red, Sheriff, and Lizzie. You have until midnight to make your decision and send them over to my hideout in the tallest building in the abandoned district or you'll never see your children again, signed, the Black Lord." "See! I knew it was a mistake to keep them here! Let's send them over to him right away so I can see my son in one piece," Mr. Jago said. "(Says the man who hits his son,)" Guido muttered. "Listen, we didn't know this would happen. We didn't even think that he would even know we were here," Lightning said. "How'd he even know?" Sally asked. "Maybe Axlerod found out and warned him before, for all we know, he could have found out when we first got here!" Lightning suggested. "So, what is your plan to stop the Black Lord? You've had a whole week to plan it," Mr. Joenns said. "Which was also a week wasted," Lightning said, reflecting on what he did during the week. He didn't realize that he had plenty of time to come up with plan during the week, but he had so much fun with the teens he forgot. "Please tell me one of you guys somehow came up with a plan during the week," he pleaded to his friends. He was hoping Sheriff or Sarge would say something about a plan but they didn't say anything telling him it just dawned on them too that they could have had a plan during the week. "We're doomed. The Black Lord will kill our children and these idiots don't have a plan on how to stop him," Mr. Shen said. "Maybe they don't have a plan, but I do," said a familiar voice. The cars-people turned around to see a man wearing a blue-gray suit and had dark gray, slicked back hair. The other was a woman with long, wavy purple hair pulled back into a ponytail wearing a dark purple shirt, a purple blazer and skirt, and violet heels. "Holley! Finn!" Mater exclaimed. "Everybody, this is Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell, they sent us on the mission to get the Black Lord." "Well they are fools to do so, because now the Black Lord kidnapped our children and is threatening to kill them," Mrs. Watson said. "I know, and I have a plan to get them back safely," Finn stated. "Tell us how," Mr. Joenns demanded, thinking they wouldn't answer. "We'll go over to the hideout and sneak inside. We'll knock out all of the Black Lord's henchmen in the process and find out where the kids are being kept. We'll set them free and send them all home as soon as we can. Then we go to the Black Lord's location and surround him, all armed. Most likely, he'll be weaponless and he might surrender immediately. The worst he could is using his fists to fight and attack us," Finn explained. "And if he does have a gun?" Mr. Mohamet asked. "If he has a gun, we might have to try to shoot him first and hopefully just subdue him; we need him alive in order to complete our mission. Then we'll call you and let you know we got him and we'll leave with him back to our home." "What about Lizzie? She's in no shape to fight," Lydia said. "Then perhaps you can keep her here until we call and you can bring her over so we can take her home," Finn added. "Sounds like a plan to me," Mr. Mitchem said. "Yeah, that might work. I knew a man who could do something similar to that named Jim Bane…actually you also kind of look like him," Mr. Mohamet said. "And that woman you call Holley looks like Katelyn Upton," Mrs. McKay added. "Probably just a coincidence," Finn said quickly. "Now, do any of you know where the hideout is?" "It is in the old, abandoned part of Star City, it used to have racing courses of all kinds nearby and also the headquarters of famous racers, one of them being Luke McKay before he found this old town in the 90s," Lydia stated. "It's the tallest building in the area." "Let's go, we already set up a tent full of weapons and tools you might need," Finn said. "Weapons? We're going to shoot people? Kill people?" Fillmore asked, worriedly. "We may have to," Finn explained. "Yeah, so, so long hippie," Mr. Joenns said. "I'm starting to figure out where Juan got his personality from," Lightning muttered. "Let's go!" Mater shouted. The cars-people left the café and ran as fast as they could to the C.H.R.O.M.E Agency tent, which was only 20 feet away from Sun Springs. They entered to see a bunch of guns and gadgets lining the walls. Lightning was amazed that so much stuff was able to fit into one tent. At the sight of so much artillery, everyone nearly fainted from surprise. "How do we know which one to choose?" Sally asked, not quite sure. "I mean, we don't have time to try them all out, and the only people here with experience other than you two are Mater, Sheriff and Sarge." "Guns are not that hard to use, you just grab one and pull the trigger," Holley explained. "So they are very easy to use, well the hand-held guns are, the machine guns and rifles are a little trickier." "Thanks for the tip." "So, which guns are which? I always confuse rifles and shot guns," Ramone asked. After an hour long explanation of what guns are which and how are each used, everyone was choosing. "I call shot gun, literally," Ramone stated, picking up a shot gun. "Good one, Ramone, both the gun choice and joke," Mater laughed. "Too bad that's the only weapon joke." Guido has seen people in mafia movies like "_The Dodgefather_" movies, but he has never actually used one. He found a very simple-looking handgun that was silver and black. He picked it up and looked at it. "If you're planning on using that gun, you'd better use both hands to hold onto it when you shoot," Holley advised when she saw him. "(Why?)" Guido asked. "If you only use one hand to shoot it, the recoil with break you shoulder and it could affect your forklift form," Holley explained. Guido's eyes widened and looked at the gun in awe. He grabbed its holster and stuck it on his belt. Better than nothing. "Aren't there any guns that won't like, kill someone?" Fillmore asked. "There aren't any, Fillmore," Sarge told the hippie. "Then I'm outta here!" Fillmore was about to run out of the tent for his life. Sarge stopped him before he got too far. "Do you want those kids to die?" he asked. "No way, man," Fillmore said. "Well, if we want to bring them back alive, this is the only way," Sarge stated, before going to another table of guns. Fillmore sighed, thinking to himself "What can I do?" "We have dart guns," Holley suggested. "Dart guns, as in poison darts? They can still kill a guy," Fillmore asked. "And knock-out darts. They won't kill the enemy, they'll just knock him unconscious," Holley explained, handing him a small gray one. Fillmore looked at it for a few seconds before saying "Alright." He stuck the gun in his pocket and walked away. "Fillmore was the last one, I think everyone chose a weapon," Holley said to Finn. "Is everyone ready?" Finn asked. "Ready!" Mater exclaimed, holding up a Gatling gun he chose. "Mater, I think we were supposed to choose a light weapon," Lightning said. "This is light," Mater said. "Really let me see that." Mater handed the Gatling gun to Lightning who immediately fell to the floor with a thud. "This is light!" Lightning gasped at the pain of the big gun crushing his hands and arms. "Yessiree!" Mater exclaimed, picking the gun up so Lightning could stand up. "We better get to the abandoned district as soon as we can, it's almost noon," Finn said. "We still have 12 hours, that's still a lot of time to find the Black Lord," Lightning said. "True, but there are a lot of tall building in the district, it could be awhile until we find him," Finn warned. "A long while."


	17. Chapter 16

The cars-people went to Star City by bus and got to the abandoned district as fast as they could. They had 6 hours left until the Black Lord would kill the teens. Holley searched the tall buildings for any activity, and so far, none. "How do we know which one is the Black Lord's?" Sheriff asked. "I looked into the deaths of the people who got murdered by him and I noticed that they all got attacked during the night, and there's still daylight out," Holley pointed at the sun that was just starting to set. "Have we checked this building?" Lightning asked. "Which one?" Holley noticed that the once-race car was pointing at a small warehouse with the lights on inside. "It's not a tall building though," Luigi said. "Yes it is," Lightning pointed at the sign above the door that was worn away; it still looked like it said "Library". Holley tried very hard to keep from laughing. "What? How is it the tallest building?" Luigi asked, not getting it. "(It has the most stories,)" Guido explained, as Sarge slapped his hand over his eyes in annoyance and Fillmore softly chuckled. "He probably did that to throw us off," Finn advised, "Be careful, he might have guards nearby." "I doubt it. He probably thinks we fell for that joke and doubted that we'd show up," Sally said. "Makes sense," Lightning agreed. The group of heroes crowded around the windows very quietly and peered in between the boards of wood that covered the windows. Inside, they could see the teens sitting in a cell, dozens of gangsters walking around the premises and the Black Lord standing in front of a hologram machine that showed Sir Miles Axlerod and Professor Zundapp. "All is going according to plan; at midnight I will kill the teens just before those agents find me. My little jest may have confused them," the Black Lord said. "And what jest was this?" Axlerod asked. "I told them I was in the tallest building in Star City," the Black Lord stated. "I don't get it," Axlerod admitted. "The tallest building in the city is the library because it has the most stories!" Travis hollered. "How clever, I wonder what building they're searching now," Zundapp said. "I hope the old #12 apartment building, that place is known for its weak floorboards, which are liable to break," the Black Lord stated. "On three, we'll bust in, one, two," Sarge whispered when he heard a snap and someone say "Oops." The veteran turned to his left to see Fillmore and Guido holding a board from the window; they were leaning on it too hard, causing it to break off. Fillmore gave off a nervous laugh. He and Guido struggled to put it back, causing quite a bit of noise. "Will you stop knocking it? You'll tell them we're here!" Sarge hissed. "Sorry, it came off," Fillmore defended. "Well set it down for now and don't look in through there anymore!" Sarge quietly argued. "Don't yell at me!" Fillmore half shouted. "I'm not yelling!" Sarge snapped. Then there were a few clicks of guns. Everyone turned around to see a dozen gangsters standing behind them. "You two argue like an old married couple, loud enough not only for me to hear, but for the hologram machine to transmit, so Axlerod and Zundapp heard it," the Black Lord sneered. The cars-people glared at Sarge and Fillmore, as if saying "Thanks a ton, you two." The Black Lord confiscated all their weapons and threw them in the cell with the teens; well all the weapons except for Guido's gun, whose holster broke, so he put it in his pocket, and Fillmore's dart gun was still in his pocket. "Worst rescuers ever," Adam sneered when he saw who had joined them. "Who are they?" Gavin asked, pointing at Holley and Finn. The man is Finn McMissile, he's a secret agent and sent on this mission in the first place," Sally explained. "And he was such a fool to do that," the Black Lord said. "Will you stay out of this and go back to whatever you were doing before these idiots showed up!" Sara shouted. She turned to the cars-people and said "No offense." "None taken," Mater said. "The lady is Holley Shiftwell, my girlfriend." "Oh, so this is Holley, well, she is sort of a hottie," Travis said. "Excuse me?" Holley asked the teen. "Don't mind him, he's an idiot," Harold Trillo sneered. "What we do mind is that you look like Katelyn Upton," Kendra said. "If you had different clothes and light brown hair, you'd be a perfect copy." "Oh no," Lightning muttered. "Yeah, and my dad said you looked like a friend of his from Afghanistan, and he died there. I think he said his name was John Stanson," Juan added. "I heard your dad say that," Gavin said. "I wonder what gave him that idea." "It's probably a coincidence," Finn repeated what he had said to the teens to the parents. "So, you got the agents, are you going to let us go?" Harold asked. "No, I lied to them," the Black Lord stated. "Wait, you mean you'll kill us? A bunch of innocent teens?" Trenton snapped. "That's right," the gangster said. "You're a monster," Milly said. "No, I'm just a gangster," the Black Lord insisted. "Monster," Milly stated. "Gangster," Black Lord snarled, "Mon-Ster!" Milly snapped. "That's it! You're going first!" the man snapped, whipping out a gun and aiming it at Milly, who yelped out of fear. Guido saw the girl in peril and whipped out his gun and shot a bullet that nearly got the Black Lord in the face. "Who shot that?" he questioned. "Was it you, McQueen? Or was it Mater or Holley?" "You okay there pal? You sound like a ghost shot that bullet," Lightning said. "Ghost? Oh please," the Black Lord sneered. "Ghosts? That's it!" Kendra thought. She noticed a mirror in the cell and walked over to it. "Thomas Gale! Thomas Gale! Thomas Gale!" she shouted at the mirror. "What are you doing?" Holley asked. "Getting help," Kendra stated. Then, she saw a pair of eyes that weren't hers looking back at her. Then, before anyone knew it, Mr. Gale stepped out of the mirror and waltzed over to the cell door. "What the hell is going on?" the Black Lord asked when he saw the soul of one of the people he had murdered in the past. Tom held up his hands toward the door, causing it to vibrate until it flew off and crashed into the hologram machine. "Dammit! That was my only contact to Axlerod!" the gangster snapped. "Good, that makes things easier for us!" Finn said, hitting the villain behind the head. "Get them!" commanded the Black Lord. The mobsters charged at the escaping heroes just when they got their weapons back. Some of the other gangsters tried to attack them from behind when several objects got thrown at them. Leo looked to see who was doing that to see T.J. Condrey and Mario Camilo throwing lamps or small tables at the enemy. "Dad!" Jasmine exclaimed. "Papa!" Iralanda said. Just then, one of the henchmen started to shoot at the ghosts. "That's not going to work," Mr. Gale advised, throwing a big table at him. "You already killed us." Then, a red motorcycle tore through the room, knocking over several bad guys. "Good job, Lucas," shouted Scott Betts as he beat up several mobsters. "Please don't call me that!" Luke McKay shouted over the roar of the motorbike engine. "I'm not cool with this!" Fillmore shouted shaking as he used the dart gun and got 5 enemies already. "You and me both," Gavin shrieked as he nearly got hit by a few bullets. "This is awesome!" Juan shouted. "Anybody got an extra gun?" Then the teen noticed a box full of hand guns. "Never mind!" he added. "That kid's become a maniac," Ryan Buckminster whispered to his son. "Well, if you put him in a war-like situation, he gets into the zone," Gavin replied. Christopher, not sure what to do, just followed Amy around the room until they both ran into a gangster twice their size that was about to clobber them both until Richard and Katelyn Upton, and Savannah Betts saw their kids in peril and grabbed him and threw him out of the way. "Stay away from our kids!" Richard snapped. The Black Lord, knowing that he'd be done for in seconds, attempted to run out of the building and get away when he ran into Yasmine Mohamet who slapped him so hard, she sent him flying into a wall. "Is that a ghost thing or did you do that in life?" Yasin asked his mother. "I could do that in life. I did that to your father when I first met him," Yasmine answered. "What'd he do?" Yasin had to know. "It's a story I can't get into while were all busy fighting," his mother explained. Meanwhile the Black Lord was trying to escape through another exit, but he met up with Kendra and Iralanda. "Gets out of my way, you little brats," he said pointing a gun at them making them jump. Just then, Mr. Gale and Mr. Camilo appeared right in front of him and socked him in the stomach forcing him back several feet. "If you lay one finger on my daughter, you will learn to regret it," Mario threatened. "The same goes for my daughter," Tom added. The mafia man just jumped to his feet and tried to back out of the room, but he backed up right into Red, so he turned around and tried to run and only got a few feet when he realized that he was surrounded by all the cars-people, ghosts and teens. He couldn't believe it; he was defeated. He dropped his gun and put his hands up. Finn went over to the phone and called Sun Springs. "We got him, bring Lizzie and the cops over here," he said. "Yes sir," said Mr. Joenns on the other end. Within 10 minute, there were a dozen police cruisers outside of the hideout and the ghosts disappeared before the first cop burst in. "Bye mom! Bye dad!" Amy called as her parents vanished. Mr. Mohamet ran into the room and saw all the gangsters either knocked out or injured on the floor. "Dang, looks like we all underestimated you guys, good job," he said. "We didn't underestimate them. We believed in them from the beginning," Aneil insisted. The other teens nodded except Harold. "I didn't," he added. Everyone just glared at him. "Let's get all these guys into the cruisers before they become conscious," Mr. Joenns said. The police locked up all the criminals in the escort trucks, all of them except for the Black Lord. "Actually, we'll be taking him with us," Finn said before Mr. Mohamet could grab the mafia man. "What? Why?" he asked. "We need him to finish our mission," Finn explained. "This man has been wanted in Star City for years and he has to be given the electric chair for all the chaos he has done!" the police officer argued. "I'm sorry, but we need the Black Lord to stop another enemy of ours, and he's the only one who knows where he is," Finn insisted. Meanwhile, the teens were talking with the cars-people. "When we get back to Sun Springs, we'll throw a big party to celebrate. We'll announce you guys as heroes!" Travis stated. "That's great Travis but…" Mater said, and then he stopped knowing that he was going to tell the kid he was going to leave and never come back. "But what?" Kendra asked. "We can't stay," Sally said sadly. "That's okay, after you interrogate the Black Lord, you can come back, then we'll party!" Adam exclaimed. "No, Adam, we won't be back. We're going home. Our real home," Lightning explained. Adam's smile vanished. "Maybe we can visit you-." He suggested. "No Adam, we don't live in this world, we live in what you say, another dimension," Holley explained. "I don't understand," Aneil said. "Well, this is your last chance to say good-bye, so say it," Sarge told the teens. The teens didn't say anything; they just stood there stunned. "We have to hurry, the portal will open in a few minutes," Holley warned the other cars-people. "Portal?" Leo asked. "Yeah, that's how we all ended up where you found us," Mater explained. Then, out of nowhere, a blue portal hole appeared on a wall. "What the?!" Mr. Mitchem exclaimed. "Time to go," Finn said as he dragged the apprehended Black Lord through the portal. Holley jumped in after him. As the cars-people approached the portal, the teens just stood and watched in shock as their friends were about to leave. Then, Adam, deciding that it was not time for them to leave, leapt into action. Literally! He ran at Lightning and jumped on his back and tackled the once-race car to the ground. "You can't leave! I won't let you!" the boy screamed. "I'm sorry, Adam, but I have to leave!" Lightning argued, trying to get the kid off him. Mater and Sally ran to help but Travis, Leo and Kendra got the same idea and tried to stop them too! Kendra, with her hands latched onto Sally's blazer, shouted. "Don't leave! We're your friends!" "Take us with you!" Travis pleaded, grabbing Mater by his jacket. Mater was struggling to get free until he remembered what Quinton taught him days earlier: how to take off a jacket. He slipped out of it and ran for the portal and leapt inside. Sally, who had finally gotten Leo and Adam off Lightning, slipped off her blazer and escaped through the portal, leaving Kendra clutching her blazer. Meanwhile, Juan was trying to get Sarge to stay as well. "Let go, soldier!" Sarge shouted. "Never! You can't make me!" Juan protested. Then Sarge got an idea. "Atten hut!" he commanded. Juan immediately released him and stood up straight and still, allowing Sarge to escape. "NOOO!" Juan cried. Gavin ran by saying "At ease," allowing Juan to move again and go after Sarge while Gavin went after Fillmore. "Dude! Don't leave!" Gavin shouted. "Sorry man, I need to get home with my friends," Fillmore said, jumping into the portal, followed by Sarge. Sheriff helped Red get Lizzie through the portal and they jumped in after her. Yasin, Christopher, and Amy watched as their teachers left their world and Christopher began to cry. Luigi and Guido got through the portal before Iralanda and Aneil got close enough to grab them. Sally, Flo and Ramone jumped in next. Lightning was the last one to escape and took one last glance at the teens. Then he did something very quickly; he pulled off his jacket and left it on the ground for them and left. The portal closed after he left. The teens just stood and stared at the wall in silence until Travis said "I didn't get to say good-bye to them." Then, one by one, the teens slowly walked to their parents' vehicles for a long, sad drive home, knowing their friends were gone, but before Leo went to his mother, he ran back toward the wall and grabbed Lightning's jacket and took it with him. In the Cars world, Lightning came out of the portal and landed in the middle of the room, breathing heavily as he turned around and watched the portal machine powering down. He heard the familiar sound of his engine revving and realized that he was a race car again. Normally, he would have been happy to be himself again, but for some reason, he just stayed glum. His friends were once again cars as well. Everyone was safe. Then, he noticed that the Black Lord was still a human and was standing out at the moment. "Tell us what you know about Axlerod's plans," Finn ordered the man. The gangster just snickered and said "Why don't you ask him yourself?" "What are you talking about?" Holley asked, wondering what the human was implying until the doors to the room opened and four blurs of color zoomed around the group of cars. Sheriff grumbled, realizing who they were. When they stopped, they were revealed to be Boost, Wingo, DJ, and Snot Rod, plus other import cars. "You import punks!" Sheriff snarled. "That's us," Boost sneered. "How'd you get in here? You're a bunch of idiots," Sally asked. "Our new boss," Wingo said, pointing a tire at the doorway as Sir Miles Axlerod and Professor Zundapp entered the room with evil looks in their eyes. "I see you brought my ally, thank you tow truck," Axlerod said as the Black Lord got away from the good cars and stood near Axlerod. "How'd you get in here?" Finn questioned. "We hacked into your security codes and we chained your friend Siddley to the roof so you have no way of escape," Zundapp explained. "And now you're all in trouble," Grem sneered as he, Acer, and the other lemons entered the room. The good cars looked at each other, worried about the fate of the world and themselves.


	18. Chapter 17

Back in the human world, the teens were sitting outside the café that evening wondering what to do next; their friends were gone and all they had left of them was Sally's blazer, Mater's jacket, and Lightning's jacket. "What happened?" Aneil asked. "The greatest people we've ever met left our world for another," Jasmine said coldly. "I can't believe they all just left like that," Harold said. "I barely knew them, but I could tell they were good guys." "I wish there was-a some way we could see them all again," Iralanda said. "There is a way," Trenton said. "What?" all the other teens asked. "It's Juan's basement," Trenton stated. "You don't mean the portal machine my father was asked to keep from the outside world? No way!" Juan shot down. "If you want to see Sarge again, this is the only way," Trenton said. Juan sighed and said. "Fine, we'll try it, but we need something from the other dimension to make it work." "And we got those," Trenton stated, pointing at the jackets lying on the table. "Let's give it a shot!" Leo exclaimed. The teens went down to the basement of the Joenns' military bunker and found a machine that was similar to the one in C.H.R.O.M.E, only much smaller for humans. There was a keypad with several buttons and a small compartment next to it. Juan took the jackets from Leo, Travis, and Kendra and put them in the compartment and closed the door. "Scanning objects: Two cotton jackets, and one cotton blazer," said a female computer voice. "Both items from the dimension: 3-1-18-19." {If you check it, it spells 'Cars'.} "What could be in that dimension?" Amy asked as the portal opened, allowing entry. "Only one way to find out, you first Amy," Trenton said picking up the small girl and tossed her into the portal. "I hate you!" she screamed. "Okay, everybody in on the count of three, 1…" Trenton said. "Oh no," Harold muttered. "2…" "Oh dodge," Aneil said. "3!" "Goody!" Gavin cheered. All the teens leapt through the portal, either cheering with delight or screaming with terror. Within moments, in the Cars world, the C.H.R.O.M.E portal flickered to life and the humans flew into the room. "That was great…where are we?" Adam asked. "We made it…I think," Iralanda squealed. "What was that?" asked a voice with a New York accent. "It came from the portal room, let's check it out," said a voice with a Detroit accent. Grem and Acer drove into the room and yelped when they saw the human teens. The teens screamed when they saw the talking cars, and the Lemons screamed again. Professor Zundapp heard the screams and drove into the room to investigate and was surprised to see his two best cars screaming at the sight of young humans. Not at all spooked by the surprise, and rolling his eyes at the ridiculous situation, had he then shouted "SHUT UP!" at the Gremlin and Pacer, silencing the screamers. Gavin gasped. "It's Professor Zundapp, the evil scientist from Cars 2." Ignoring the teenage hippie, the Kleinwagon turned towards Grem and Acer. "Why are you screaming? They are human, like our ally, not to mention armless children!" he upbraided them. "Oh, are we?" Adam asked, whipping a small silver pistol out of his pocket and shot a bullet at Zundapp's tire, causing it to pop. Juan whipped out his gun from the hideout and fired at the ceiling in warning. "A gun! The brats got guns!" Acer exclaimed as his own gun came out of the side of his headlights. "N-YAAA!" Adam yelped. "Take the children to the cells with the other prisoners…NOW!" Zundapp commanded. "Sure thing, Professor Z," Grem said. "We're dead," Harold gulped. "Who're the other prisoners?" Amy asked. The other teens rolled their eyes at the girl. The cars were parked in the prison cell in the building. "We're locked up with no escape in a cell I created, such irony," Finn said. "(In that case I hate irony,)" Guido said. "Well, at least we tried, right?" Sally said. "And now the world is in danger of being run by Lemons! What do we do?" Mater asked. "What can we do? We're trapped here until Axlerod decides to kill us and the Tuner Gang is sitting just outside those doors," Lightning said. Everyone was silent; the race car was right, escape was hopeless. Just then, the doors rolled open and the Tuner Gang, accompanied by Grem and Acer entered the room. "Don't even try to escape, because we'll go after you," Acer warned. "Thanks for the tip," Holley said sarcastically. "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to some intruders," Acer snapped as the teens entered the room. The cars gasped when they saw their friends from the human world in their dimension. How did they get here? "Leo, no," Lightning gasped. The teens slowly entered the cell, with Amy and Christopher following close behind. Suddenly, Grem knocked them both down, laughing. "You wouldn't hurt a poor disabled girl and a mute boy would you?" Amy pleaded. "Yes I would," Grem threatened. "Disabled?" Boost asked. "I can't walk, bozo, I can't go anywhere on my own because I could get lost or hurt. If I were a car, I'd be without headlights," Amy explained. Boost's eyes widened when he heard her say that. Grem was about to crush her with his tire when Boost snapped "Hey!" Grem stopped and glared at the import. "I think making her scream and throwing her in this cell is enough for her to handle. There will be no need for that, now get the hell out of here!" Boost snarled. Grem eyes widened at Boost's sudden defensive attitude toward him, but he backed away from Amy and Christopher, letting them into the cell and shutting the door. Grem continued to glare at Boost coldly until the import revved his engine threateningly at the Gremlin. "Okay! Alright! I'm going!" Grem shouted as he and Acer drove out of the room, closing the door behind them. "Damn Gremlin," Boost muttered. Then he noticed that his friends and the prisoners were looking at him full of surprise by the Kyoku Jitsu's actions. "What?" he asked, annoyed by their gawking. "I never knew you had a soft spot for disabled children," Kendra said. "I don't have a soft spot!" Boost defended. "If you didn't, you would have let Grem hurt Amy," Jasmine said. "Who are you really?" "None of your business," Boost bit. "Come on, I think you've been through something I went through, like my dad dying." "And you seemed to react when Amy compared herself to a car without headlights," Kassie added. "Did you know a car without headlights? You can talk about it with us. Gangsta car to gangsta kid," Milly said. "Aren't you young to be a gangsta?" Snot Rod asked. "Not in our town," Milly said. "So tell us, why are you like who you are?" Jasmine asked. "Something in your life seemed to involve a car without headlights." Lightning realized that Jasmine was using similar words that he said to her and her siblings when they were still bullies. He knew that she was trying to change the import car, but could she? "Fine, I'll tell you!" Boost gave in. "I had a little sister named Speedy, and she was small for her age, and she also didn't have headlights. She got picked on a lot in school and came home every now and then crying with a new dent. As she got older, the bullying got worse. My parents and I tried to help her, but none of our suggestions for ignoring the bullying worked. Then, one night, our parents weren't home and I was supposed to watch Speedy, but she didn't come home, so I went out and looked for her. I eventually found the kids that have been picking on her outside some very dark and dense woodland. I asked them what was going on and they told me Speedy drove into the woods after a stranger told her that it was a 'big accomplish' to navigate through dark woods without headlights! I speed into the woods, trying to find her and I looked for her for an hour until I finally found her driving dangerously close to a ditch! I tried to warn her but it was too late; she made a wrong turn and tumbled into the ditch. I drove over there and started to shout for help. Sometime later, a tow truck and car came up and got her out. She was not in good shape; she was covered in dirt, her tires were messed up, she was dented all over and her windshield was cracked. The car said she lost lots of oil and we needed to get her to doctor as fast as we could. We put her on a flatbed and drove to the hospital. I was thinking about what my parents would think when they found out what happened to her when Speedy started to speak. She said she was sorry she listened to a stranger and that she caused all this trouble, I told her it was okay. Then she said I was a good brother and that she'd miss me. Then she closed her eyes just when we got to the hospital. The doctor said she died from oil loss. I was devastated and didn't want to face my parents, so I left before they could show up. My mother was crying so much and my father vowed to find the man who told her to do what she did, but he knew that was impossible. I left my town shortly after the funeral to try to recover from what happened, but I just got worse! I found myself picking on other cars and wreaking havoc in small towns to let off steam and I eventually got myself tricked out to look more menacing. Not long after, I met up with Wingo, DJ, and Snot Rod and I've been like this ever since." "That was a very informative backstory," Milly said, her eyes wide. "Listen Boost, I'm sorry for what happened to your sister, but you don't have to take it out on innocent cars. It wasn't your fault, nor was it theirs," Jasmine said. "How do you know?" Boost asked the human. "Because I've bullied people too, mostly these guys, after what happened to my father," Jasmine explained pointing at the other teens. "Then, a few days ago, a man told me that I don't have to bully to feel better about myself and it won't bring my dad back, and also, he said my dad wouldn't appreciate me bullying kids to tears, and I don't think Speedy would want you to bully either." Boost was silent for a few minutes until he asked. "Do you think she's watching me now?" "Yeah, and she's probably wondering why her brother is being the bully he protected her from," Kassie said. Boost was quiet again for a few minutes until he finally said "Come on, let's go." The imports were driving out of the room when Finn stopped them saying, "One more thing, Boost." Boost screeched to a halt and turn around to face the old Faultless GT. "That car you're working for, he cannot be trusted. He'll get rid of you and the other imports once he thinks you're all no longer needed," he warned. The Tuner Gang's eyes widened and they quickly drove out of the room so fast, the cars and teens swore they heard a sonic boom.


	19. Chapter 18

"Why were you going easy on him?" Sheriff asked Jasmine. "I think I can change him and the other imports too," Jasmine said. "Now, why are you not screaming in terror at us like Grem and Acer did?" "We've seen humans before," Lightning stated. "Whoa! You're Lightning McQueen! You were my inspiration for becoming a racer when I was a kid," Leo stated. "Really, I didn't know that," Lightning said. "Gee, I thought the Cars films were just movies, not reality," Adam said. "In your world, maybe, but in our world, all that stuff really happened," Finn explained. "You mean…" Kelly said. "The Piston Cup, the World Grand Prix, all happened in this world." "Wow, John Lasseter is going to get sued big time," Juan said. "That's is-a what I said," Luigi said. "Not exactly, but close." "So, Leo, what are you doing here and how did you get here?" Lightning asked the teen. "How do you my name?" Leo questioned the race car. "We've met before, remember? Lightning, the man who helped you with your motorbike racing and these cars were your friends too," Lightning said. "If you really are Lightning and our friends, answer these questions: What was my father's real name?" Leo asked. "Luke McKay, but Scott Betts called him Lucas," Lightning answered. "What do you have to do to summon the ghost of my father?" Kendra asked. "Stand in front of a mirror and say his name, Thomas Gale, three times, Kendra," Sally said. "Name my sisters from youngest to oldest," Juan jumped in. "Cydney, Sela, Anna, and Darrian," Sarge said. "What caused my big motorbike racing accident?" Trenton asked. "Kelsey Hawkeye had small blades on her motorcycle wheels and when she rubbed you, one of the blades cut into your tire, causing it to pop and the bike to flip over with you still on it. It caused your leg to get crushed and your father, Dr. Garwood has never let you race ever since," Lightning explained. "What was my mother's name?" Yasin asked. "Yasmine Mohamet," Sheriff answered. "Where did you first see the ghost of my father and what was his name?" Iralanda asked "On the second floor of the courthouse and his name is Mario Camilo," Luigi stated. "Which of my neighbors can hear my parents arguing?" Aneil asked. "(The Joenns, the Shens, the Buckminsters and the Camilos,)" Guido answered with ease. "What skills did my parents say I need to brush up on?" Kelly asked. "Your singing and waitress skills," Flo said. "What did I do very recently?" Travis asked. "You caused a cattle stamped in Sun Springs," Mater stated. "What happened on the last day of school?" Gavin asked. "You blew up the school on accident, man," Fillmore said. "What song did me, Kelly and Yasin sing in the café?" Quinton asked. "'Drive By' by Train," Ramone answered. "What happened to our father?" Milly asked. "He was shot by the police after a call from the Black Lord and his body fell down a canyon," Lightning responded. "What's the name of my family's store?" Adam asked. "Edmund Emporium," Sally stated. "What did I do to you, Guido, Aneil, Travis, and Adam on your first day in Star City?" Harold asked. "You told the driver we were hitchin' ride," Mater said. "They're all correct. It's them!" Aneil stated. "Wow! My favorite Cars character was my racing teacher. When you said you were a race car, me and Adam thought you meant a race car driver," Leo said. "Now, tell us what are you doing here?" Sarge asked. "We wanted to know if you were all okay, and Travis didn't say good-bye," Trenton explained. "Good-bye, okay, I'm good," Travis said. "Wow, de ja vu again," Lightning said. "And now we know why," Leo said. "How did you get here?" Holley had to know. "My dad keeps a portal machine in the basement and we used your jackets to find your dimension. Looks like we succeeded," Juan explained. "Anyway, again, why do you think you can change the Tuner Gang?" Sheriff asked. "It's never too late to change who you are," Milly stated. "It may not have been too late for you kids, but I know it's too late for them," Sheriff argued. "Says you!" Milly snapped. "How about we talk about something else other than the Tuner Gang," Sally suggested before the argument got worse. "How did you get caught by Grem and Acer?" "They heard us talking and cornered. "I shot a bullet at Zundapp's tire, though," Adam said holding up his silver pistol. "Whoa, you have a gun, where'd you get a gun?" Ramone asked the boy. "My dad gave it to me as a matter of self-defense, they took the bullets though," Adam explained. "I got a gun too," Juan added, holding up his own hand gun. "And why did you come?" Lightning asked Harold. "They forced me," Harold stated. "NO WE DIDN'T!" the teens protested angrily.| Meanwhile; the Tuner Gang were on their way to report to Sir Axlerod about the prisoners. "What was that old car tripping about?" Snot Rod asked Boost. "He thinks Axlerod is going to betray us imports, but I don't believe it; he gave us his word," Boost said. When the import gang was only two feet from the meeting room, they heard J. Curby Gremlin say "How much longer will we need those imports? One of them already threatened one of my Gremlins." "What?" Boost thought. "Not long, after we dispose of the agents and take over the world, we shall trick all the imports into my disintegration chamber and turn them all into ash," Zundapp stated. "Excellent, the sooner the better," Axlerod said. "Oh Dodge! That old car was right! What do we do?" DJ hissed. Boost thought it over for a few minutes until saying "DJ, Wingo, go warn the other imports about what we heard, while me and Snot Rod head back to the prison room." "What are you going to do?" Wingo asked. "Set the 'enemy' free," Boost stated.| Back with the cars and teens, they had just finished arguing with Harold about his reasons for coming to the Cars world until he admitted that he wanted to go on an adventure, then Sheriff turned the issue back to the Tuner Gang. "Are you sure you changed the Tuner Gang? Because I doubt you did," he said. "I keep telling you, I think I did change them, and I think they will come back and free us and take us to Siddley," Jasmine stated. "If they do that, then I'll trust more often," Sheriff stated. Just then, Boost and Snot Rod drove into the room and clicked the button for opening the cell door. "What are you doing?" Sally asked. "The agent car was right. Axlerod is planning to kill us after this take over the world thing. We came to get you guys out and take you to Siddley," Boost explained. Jasmine had a ridiculous grin on her face and looked at Sheriff. The old cop car just grumbled and drove out of the cell. "Thanks for the help," Lightning said to the import. "Yes that was a rather bold move you did, thank you," Finn added. "No problem," Boost said. "Where are Wingo and DJ?" Kassie asked. "Rounding up the other imports, we'll meet up with them on the way out," Snot Rod answered. "What will you dudes do? Axlerod will have your hoods for this," Darren stated. "We were hoping to help you guys, we know all about Axlerod's plan and we are willing to tell you it," Boost said. "Well, Finn. Do you think we can trust them?" Holley asked. "Yes, I believe we can," Finn concluded. "However, if you try anything funny, I'll throw you all in the impound lot," Sheriff threatened. "Don't worry officer, you can trust us," Snot Rod insisted. The imports lead the cars out of the prison area down several halls to find the ramp to the roof, where Siddley was. "The ramp is on the next turn," Boost informed when Harold and Amy started to complain about running for so long. [Actually Amy was sitting on top of Red, bored of all the long turns.] But when the cars and teens turned around a corner, they were greeted by a small army of Gremlins, led by J. Curby Gremlin himself. "Going somewhere?" the old car asked sincerely. "Get out of way, Curby! You may be older than me, but I'm still faster than you and stronger too," Boost warned. "I know, but in case you didn't notice, you're outnumbered," J. Curby sneered. Boost counted the army and realized that it was 10 against 1 if they fought. "We're doomed," Harold said. Just then, the sound of several approaching engines come into earshot and before anyone knew it, a black import rammed into three Gremlins into a wall. Wingo and DJ came down the hall with the other imports following close behind. "Let's make this a fair fight!" Wingo shouted. Now it was 5 to one, much easier. The cars drove into battle. Mater, Finn, and Holley did their Carate, while Aneil did human karate. Iralanda, who said she was part of something called a Creed, leapt around from place and dented random Lemons to the point of annoyance. Juan used a metal pole he found as a bow staff and beat the old cars very hard with it. Guido, who happened to have his wrench with him, used his professional pit stop skills to remove the bad cars' tires and even lifted some out of his way. Red used his water hose to spray the cars away from him and Amy. Flo blinded some of them with her headlights while the others just rammed them with whatever strength they had. It didn't take long for J. Curby Gremlin to shout "Retreat!" The Gremlins sped out of the hallway, allowing the cars passageway to the roof. Boost lead them up there to see Siddley chained to the roof. "While Miss. Shiftwell and I free Siddley, you keep an eye out for any more Lemons, or better yet, create a barricade to keep them out," Finn ordered. He and Holley got small lasers out of their hubcaps and got to work on cutting the chains. During that time, the other cars and humans used whatever they could find to keep the door closed off, such as crates. Then, Iralanda froze in her steps. "I hear them coming!" she warned. All the cars stopped what they were doing to hear the sound of several approaching engines from the other side of the barricade. Then there was a loud bang and the barricade vibrated. "They're trying to bust in!" Snot rod warned. "Everyone on board, hurry!" Finn ordered after breaking the last chain. "Women and me first!" Harold shouted, running up the loading ramp into Siddley. The other teens and cars followed close behind. "Are you sure you'll be able to carry this many cars and people at once?" Kendra asked. "Don't worry, I've carried heavier things," Siddley assured the girl. Lightning was the last one to get on the jet, but he took one last look at the barricade to see it starting to collapse. "Lightning! Come on!" Leo shouted. Lightning entered the spy plan and within a few moments, it was up in the air and on its way before the Lemons could stop it. "What do we do now?" Sally asked. "We have to get back to Radiator Springs to make a plan to stop Axlerod, and you know some cars that can help us to do that," Finn said. "Siddley, set route for Radiator Springs." "On my way," the Glidesworth A113 replied. "Afterburners, sir?" "Is there any other way?" Finn said. Then he looked at the humans on board. "You kids might want to hold onto something," Finn informed. "Why?" Travis asked, as Trenton grabbed ahold of something. Just when Siddley activated the afterburners, the sudden force of speed caused the teens to fly back and hit a wall flat on their backs. "Some of the teens were enjoying themselves such as Kendra, Leo, Juan, Aneil, Milly and Trenton, were laughing the whole. Gavin, Iralanda, and Harold were screaming with fear. Adam was naming every humane deed he'd do if he survived the flight. Kelly was cursing in Spanish and Yasin was cursing in what everyone later figured out was Swahili. Travis shouted "This is awesome!" "This is wicked!" Amy exclaimed. "This is not fun!" Darren and Kassie screamed. "WHOOOOOOAAAAAA!" Quinton and Jasmine cried. Sara was completely emotionless, acting like it didn't bother her and Christopher was smiling the whole way. Sometime later, the teens that were screaming stopped, the laughing ones calmed down as well, Adam, Kelly, and Yasin were out of breath from their long dialogues. Basically everyone was enjoying the flight. "Well that was and interesting hour," Holley said. "We adapt to things within an hours because it will just get tiring," Trenton explained. "5 minutes till Radiator Springs," Siddley said. Trenton looked out a nearby window to get a look at the town first. He frowned. "Are you sure this is Radiator Springs?" he asked. "What do you mean?" Lightning asked. "It doesn't look good from here," Trenton said. "Don't worry, it'll look better up close," Mater stated. "No, I didn't mean it like that," Trenton said. "When I land, you kids might feel a small jump," Siddley warned. When the spy plane landed in the desert sand, the teens got thrown off the floor and fell flat on their behinds. "Ow! Small jump, Siddley?" Adam sneered. The cars and people got of the jet and all gasped at the sight of their hometown of Radiator Springs. "That's what you meant," Lightning said to Trenton.


	20. Chapter 19

"Oh no…" Sally gasped, sounding ready to cry. The Cozy Cone Motel was shattered and in shambles; Lightning's racing headquarters were in a similar state, but there was more rubble; the Curio Shop had holes all over the room and windows and all the merchandise inside was destroyed; Fillmore's Taste-In geodesic dome looked like it collapsed and the fabric was torn; Sarge's Surplus Hut was half blown up and a lot of his surplus was either destroyed or missing; Luigi's Casa Della Tires had a lot a broken windows and the smell of burnt rubber came from it and the Leaning Tower of Tires appeared to have been knocked over, landing and crushing part of the building; Red's garden was torn up out of the ground; all the billboard were burnt, including the one with Lightning McQueen and Mater on it; Flo's V8 Café was completely obliterated and the gas machines were all blown up; Ramone's House of Body Art was in the same state, because of all the flammable paint no doubt; the museum was in the same state as the Cozy Cone; Mater's Junkyard and the impound lot were taken apart; the other shops were dismantled or blown up as well; the only things that survived the entire ordeal was the courthouse and the statue of the town founder, Stanley. "Oh, Stanley, what happened?" Lizzie asked the statue as if it would answer. "Our town, our beautiful town, is destroyed," Flo said, sadly. "Axlerod is going to pay for this," Boost snarled. "Did you know about this?" Sheriff questioned. "I've heard, but I didn't see the damage for myself," Boost admitted. "They even destroyed the museum. Doc's Piston Cups were in there," Lightning said, investigating the rubble. "Careful, Lightning, I don't think any tires survived this," Aneil warned. "I'm really sorry about this, Lightning. If our parents didn't hold you and your friends in Sun Springs for so long, this probably wouldn't have happened," Leo apologized. "Don't worry, Leo, it wasn't their fault, even if we were here, this still could have happened," Lightning said. "Hey, guys, where's Mia and Tia? Don't they live here now?" Kendra asked. "And Mr. and Mrs. the King?" Mater added. "Oh Dodge! Mia! Tia! Mr. the King! Lynda!" Sally called out. The other cars looked around the abandoned town, trying to find their missing friends. 10 minutes went by when Ramone Ramone stood high on his hydraulics and looked up at window in the courthouse. "Hey! I think I see some people in the courthouse!" he shouted. "Really who?" Sally had to know. "I can't tell, all I can see is a light," Ramone stated. Kassie had an idea. "Wingo, park under the window facing away from the building," she instructed the wingo car. "Okay," Wingo parked under the window facing toward the town. "What are you planning-AHH!" he tried to ask when Kassie began to climb his spoiler like it was a ladder. "Whoa! What are you doing! That is a no-climb-zone! You hear me! A no-climb-zone!" he shouted at the girl. "Well, it's your fault you had your spoiler look like a ladder," Kassie bit back at the import. "Ramone's right! There are a dozen cars in there. I don't know who's who though," she stated after peering into the window. "Let me see, I a-know more about the characters than you ever will," Iralanda said, climbing up the spoiler and stood on the tip of it, looking in the window. "Has anyone noticed that my spoiler has become a ladder for humans?" Wingo asked sarcastically to nobody in particular. "Be careful Iralanda," Luigi advised the girl. "Okay, I-a see the Weathers, Mia, Tia, Mack, Francesco Bernoulli-," Iralanda ticked off the names. "Francesco? What is he doing here? The Radiator Springs wasn't supposed to start until two weeks from now," Lightning said. "He probably came to practice and was there during the attack or showed up afterward to see this. He's not the only Grand Prix racer there, I can also see Jeff Gorvette, Shu Todoroki, Carla Veloso, Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Gearsly, Max Schnell, Raoul ÇaRoule, Miguel Camino, and Rip Clutchgoneski," Iralanda added. "If you don't get off my spoiler now, I will speed so fast you'll fall off," Wingo warned, annoyed by the feeling of human feet on him. Kassie jumped off, heeding his warning, but Iralanda stayed. "Go ahead, try," she dared. Wingo sped out of the spot and Iralanda leapt off and twirled in the air like an acrobat and landed on her feet perfectly, not at all hurt. "How'd you do that?" Wingo asked, seeing the girl survived. "Physics, I'll teach you if you ever come to the human world," Iralanda offered. "No thank you," Wingo sneered. But Snot Rod rolled up and whispered "I'll take that offer." "We better get in there and find out what happened," Sally said. As the cars and humans were entering the courthouse, Rip Clutchgoneski glanced out the window Kassie and Iralanda looked in a few minutes earlier to see the imports entering the building. "Guys! Imports are entering the courthouse!" he warned. The cars all gasped and turned out the light and stayed in one corner. "What do we do?" Tia whispered to Lynda Weathers. "I-I don't know," Lynda responded. Then there was a bang on the door, for it was locked. "Francesco, you're closest to the door, you check to see how outnumbered we are," Carla Veloso ordered. "What! Me! No, they'll strip my parts and sell them on the internet!" Francesco hissed. Lewis and Jeff ended up forcing the Italian Formula Car toward the door and quickly reversed away. Francesco gulped and glanced back at his friends before slowly peering into the peephole, shaking very badly. He saw red, brown, and blue. He screamed. "Who is it?" Max hissed. "Lightning and his friends," Francesco said, taking another look to see a lightning bolt pattern and noticing that the blue was Sally and the brown was Mater. He unlocked the door to reveal the heroes and the hiding cars drove out of the corner and cheered. "Rip! You said you saw imports!" Shu upbraided the Rearendian race car. "Oh, he did," Lighning said as he pointed at the Tuner Gang and their friends enter the room. "How dare you bring them here! They work-a for the bad guys!" Francesco snapped. "We saw some of them during the attack!" "I thought you said you didn't know about this?" Sally asked Boost. "We didn't! I swear we didn't! The Tuner Gang had nothing to do with it! Not sure about the other imports though," Boost stated. A black import with red-orange triangle things on its hood, making it look like he has a Mohawk drove forward. "I admit it, I was one of the imports that destroyed your town, but I am sorry and I'm willing to help you stop Axlerod," he said. "What made you change sides?" The King asked. "Axlerod was going to kill us after he succeeded with his plan. It was a big risk to change sides and help these dudes," Boost explained. "What happened here?" Lightning asked. "Last Saturday, after the WGP racers showed up, these rusty cars came into the café and I asked them if they needed anything like oil or fuel. This orange Gremlin said they needed nothing from us except to stay out of their way. They went around the town for a while, acting very oddly, until the museum blew up without warning! Then the strangers got out these guns and started to shoot at us. We all scattered into the desert to get away from the riot and saw from a ledge the town to start getting destroyed. The next thing to blow was the café which took out part of the Body Art building, then it was the surplus hut and we started to see smoke in the air. After it all cleared, we saw the town the way it is now and we all hid in the courthouse for the last few days. Fortunately, we haven't had customers for a few days," Lynda explained. "It was so scary, I thought we were all going to die," Mia said. "Luckily, that didn't happen, and I'm glad every one of you got out safely," Lightning said. "So what do we do now?" asked Nigel Gearsly. "That's why we're here, we need to come up with a plan and we need your help to do it," Mater explained. "How do we know if you'll come up with a good plan?" Shu asked. "Their plans are good; they used a great one to rescue us from the Black Lord," Travis said, walking into the room. "AAAAHHHH! What are those things?" Francesco asked. "We 'things' are human teenagers. My name's Jasmine," Jasmine said, sashaying into the room. "I'm her sister, Kassie," Kassie stated. "I'm Darren." "I'm Gavin!" "Adam Edmund here." "Juan Joenns reporting for duty!" "Aneil Jago at your service." "Iralanda Camilo." "Yo, I'm Milly Condrey." "Kendra Gale." "Leo McKay." "Trenton Garwood." "Travis Mitchem." "Sara Marcov." "Harold Trillo." "Amy Betts." "Kelly Watson." "Quinton Shen." "Yasin Mohamet." "The silent kid's Christopher Upton." "Humans? That's impossible, they should be myth," Carla said. "Maybe in this world, but in the human world, there's no such thing as talking cars, boats, planes, or trains," Leo stated. "So what's Axlerod's plan?" Jeff asked. "He's planning to take over the Cars and Human worlds with the help of a bad human named the Black Lord," Boost explained. "This Black Lord, how dangerous is-a he?" Francesco asked. "Let's just say he killed a lot of people important to us," Iralanda said sadly. "You mean…he killed your parents?" Tia gasped. "Actually he only killed my Papa, but he was a good dad," Iralanda said. "And he killed both of Christopher's parents, and right in front of him, too," Travis added. "Oh, you poor thing," Mia and Tia cooed, driving up to Christopher. "Oh, both of his parents died and they no longer give a hoot about my papa," Iralanda muttered. "Then, in that-a case, you're on your own!" Francesco said as he and the other World Grand Prix racers tried to leave the room. The other cars started to freak out over the fact that they might lose to the villains and Juan started to get fed up with it. It didn't take long for him to snap and run to the front of the room and shout. "STOP!" catching the attention of every car and teen in the room. "Nobody's going anywhere! We have to stick together! We're going to need all of you if we're going to stop Axlerod and the Black Lord, and we are going to stop them!" Everyone looked toward the teen. "Preach," Milly said. Juan went on. "He thinks he has us on the run, which means he doesn't expect us to bring the fight to him. Listen, I know we're not the best team, but it's all we've got. We're C.H.R.O.M.E now, this is our job." The small crowd looked like they were with him and admired his determination. "Now, we're about to embark on a potentially dangerous mission. There could be physical violence, there could be gun play, there's even the chance that some people might even get killed," Juan added. At the sound of this, everyone gasped. "So if anyone wants out, now is the time to say it," Juan said. "I'm out!" Francesco shouted. "Me too," Jeff added. "Ditto," Adam said. "I just remembered, I had to have my oil checked by my doctor," Raoul said. Everyone except our heroes, the other teens, and the Tuner Gang wanted out. "Juan knew he just screwed up his speech and there was no way to talk them back into the fight now. Then, an unidentified voice hollered "HOLD IT!" "Was that..?" Kendra asked as Christopher ran to the front of the crowd and up next to Juan. "Shame on each and every one of you!" he exclaimed. The teens and cars heroes gasped, even Red. "OMG! Chris is talking!" Amy squealed. Christopher went on. "I thought we were in this together? Look, I'm as scared as you are, but this has to be done! Do we want the bad guys to win?" Everyone looked at each other and shook their hoods or heads. "Didn't think so! We got to do this! For freedom! For justice! For honesty!" Christopher said. Nobody said a word for a full minute. At last Jeff broke the silence. "Wow, do I feel ashamed," he said. "Yeah, I feel like one shilling," Nigel said. "Well, I'm back in," Lewis stated. "You can count on me," said Raoul. "Francesco was-a only joking! It would be fun to dent Axlerod and his Lemons," Francesco said. "All for one and one for all!" Trenton shouted. Everyone cheered. "Way to go, Chris," Juan said. "Right on, man," Gavin added. "Now, we're going to go into a big battle, so we're going to need as many medics and cars to escort the innocent away as we can," Finn said. "So we'll need forklifts and tow trucks," Leo said. "Exactly, so we could use all your pit crews and every tow truck you know," Finn said. "Any suggestions?" "I got some friends named Tater and Tater Jr. who should help," Mater said. "And there's this tow truck at the Piston Cup races named Tow," Lightning added. "And our pit crews will be willing to help," Jeff said. "And what about actual fighters, we're still outnumbered," asked Kendra. "We'll have to round up everyone we know who isn't afraid to fight, so ask everyone you know," Finn suggested. "I got some friends in the military that will be willing to fight," Sarge said. "What will the innocent do?" Trenton asked. "In every city in the world, C.H.R.O.M.E has installed a safe building that will transport everyone to another place where it's safe. I'm getting a feeling that we'll need everyone to evacuate, so we'll use them all," Holley explained. "Yes, and as always, it shall be women and children. Only the men shall fight," Francesco said. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sally asked angrily. "Yeah, buddy, enlighten us!" a white and pink girl import asked the Italian race car. "Well, I just think that guys are tougher than girls and we should help the ladies whenever we can," Francesco explained, oblivious to the fact he was ticking the girls off. Carla drove up to him and slammed her tire onto his hood. "Still think we need any help?" she hissed. "Not-a really, no!" Francesco yelped. Carla took her tire off of him. "Boost, where is Axlerod planning on taking his army first?" Finn asked. "L.A," Boost answered. "Just like in all the epic movies and video games," Aneil muttered. "Wait, we're still sort of outnumbered. What people do the teens know?" asked Jeff. "We know a lot of other kids who could help, but to get them here, we need a portal machine, but the only one in the world is in C.H.R.O.M.E," Trenton stated. "No it isn't," Finn said. "Really? Where's the other one?" Adam had to know. "There a dozen other machines in Parking Area 51, you could use them to get your friends," Finn explained. "But how will we get in? Isn't that place guarded by, oh I don't know, HEAVILY ARMED GUARDS!" Adam snapped. "Yes, but we have someone who might get us all in," Finn said. "Who?" Lightning asked. Mater tapped his friend's tire and motioned toward where Sarge was parked. It didn't take long for all the cars and teens in the room to look at the Jeep who stiffened up a little. "Why is everyone staring at me?" he wondered. "Do you think you can get us into Area 51?" Juan asked. "I might, but I doubt they'll let me bring in all of you," Sarge said. "Or we could tell them we have humans, they'll fall for that!" Mater suggested. "NO!" all the teens shouted.


	21. Chapter 20

At Parking Area 51, the cars and teens were gathered outside the entrance gate. Sarge  
banged on the front gate. "State your business," said a voice with a German  
accent. "We need to use your inter-dimensional portals," Sarge stated.  
"Negatory. Usage of the portals is forbidden to civilians and cars outside the  
government," responded the voice. "I think they're talking to you, Fillmore,"  
Juan jabbed at the microbus. "We have a human teenager!" Fillmore shouted. Juan  
froze up. "A human! Come in," the voice replied excitedly. Gavin laughed as  
Juan paled at the thought Fillmore just gave him up to the government. Everyone  
entered and at first, the other military looked at them suspiciously, until  
Gavin shoved Juan to the front for everyone to see, then they all stopped what  
they were and looked at the boy in awe. "I'm going to destroy you both later!"  
Juan hissed at the hippies, who were snickering. They entered a big building to  
see a bunch of white forklifts. One with a mustache grill first noticed Mater.  
"Hey! That's the tow truck that snuck into our facility and stole our UFO," he  
said. "I didn't steal him, I rescued him. Mator is my friend," Mater explained.  
"Wait a second, you were telling the truth?" Lightning asked. "Look! A human  
teenager!" another scientist exclaimed when he saw Juan. "Please don't stick  
needles in me," Juan pleaded. "Stick on in him! I want to see him cry!" Gavin  
shouted. "Aha! Another human," a third scientist said, pulling Gavin out of the  
crowd. "NO!" Gavin cried. "Wait, there are at least 18 other humans in there!"  
the teen hippie stated, running back into the crowd and dragging Leo, Kendra,  
Trenton, Travis, Aneil, Iralanda, Yasin, Amy, Christopher, Adam, Sara, Jasmine,  
Milly, Kassie, Darren, Harold, Quinton and Kelly out. "Traitor!" Adam snarled.  
"So we see, now, we are told you needed to use out portal machines. What  
dimension are you planning on seeing?" the first scientist asked. "Our  
dimension, we need to round up some friends of ours to help us with a big  
battle that we have to do against a bad car," Juan explained. "Really? Why didn't you say so! They're in the back  
building," the forklift stated. The cars and humans sped over to the building  
and went inside to see at least 10 portal machines. "Okay, I have a plan on  
which people to recruit for the battle; Iralanda, you go to Italy and get your  
friends from this 'Creed' of yours; Aneil, you go to Japan and get your friends  
from your karate and sword fighting classmates; Harold, you go to Star City and  
get the Saturday racers and Leo, Trenton, Adam, and the Condrey Gang's  
motorcycles, and my sisters, and also all the weapons you can carry; Jasmine,  
you and your sisters and brother go find all the inner-city kids and teens you  
know; I'll go to all the boot camps around the world and get help from the kids  
there," Juan commanded. "What will I do?" Gavin asked. "What you do in all  
war-like situations: hide for your life and avoid the battle altogether," Juan  
sneered. "Oh come on! I know people too!" Gavin protested. "Like who?" Juan  
asked. "Um…Charlotte Mueller, Jack Zen, James Risqué, and Stephanie Anders,"  
Gavin stated. "Isn't Charlotte a crazy neo-hippie?" Amy asked. "Aren't Jack and  
James geeks?" Darren asked. "Isn't Stephanie a loner?" Sara added. "Charlotte  
is weird, Jack and James are really smart, and Stephanie is a little reserved,"  
Gavin corrected. "But they can help!" "Fine, go get them," Juan gave in.  
"Everyone else, let's move!" Immediately, the teens went into action. Iralanda  
set one portal machine to Italy and jumped through and within a few minutes,  
she came back with a dozen boys and girls her age with hoodies with a pointed  
tip on the top edge. Aneil set his machine for Tokyo and went through and  
brought back two dozen boys and girls his age with blue or red belts or wooden  
swords. Harold went through his portal and brought back the teens from the  
Saturday races then reset the destination and went back through. He came back  
again, but this time with Juan's sisters, his, Leo, Trenton, Adam, and the  
Condrey Gang's motorcycles. Jasmine and her siblings went through another  
portal and came back with a few teenage gangstas, but the reset it and jumped  
back in and brought back more teens. They did this for 3 more times and the  
last time, they brought back a boy about 18 years old wearing a gray hoodie,  
blue jeans, and had black cornrows and brown skin. "Hey RJ," Milly greeted.  
"Hey, Milly, um…what's going on?" the boy asked. "And what's with that?" RJ  
pointed at the portal machine assigned himself and the Condrey Gang discovered  
their friends going through the portal several times and bringing back about a  
dozen teens each time, some of them older than him. He's already been to the  
U.S.A, Mexico, Canada, England, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, China, Japan,  
Brazil, India, Egypt, Mali, Bolivia, Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Australia,  
Ireland, Belgium, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Sweden, Switzerland,  
Czech. Republic, Thailand and his last stop was the Barbados. He came back with  
a girl with red-dyed hair, light brown skin and wearing as much camo Juan was.  
"Those guys I have to work with?" she asked, seeing the cars and other teens.  
"Yep, and a few others, Commander Riri," Juan saluted the girl. "Hey, Riri," RJ  
greeted the girl flirtatiously. "You two know each other?" Jasmine asked. "Yep,  
we lived in the Barbados in the same boot camp," RJ stated. "Until you quit so  
you could go to America with your big bro," Riri sneered. "Which I regretted,  
don't slap me, please," RJ stated. Despite of what he said, Riri slapped him  
hard on the cheek, knocking him to the floor. "Will you two be working together  
be a problem?" Juan asked. "Hey, just because I'm annoyed by him now doesn't mean  
I won't work with him," Riri said. "I'm in." "Me too," RJ groaned, getting back  
on his feet. "Wow, Juan is popular," Adam stated. "No he's not, he just knows  
all the locations of every boot camp in the world," Darrian said. "I never knew  
there would be so many," Gavin said. "They stationed them everywhere ever since  
WWII," a cadet named Mush from India said. "So where is this battle?" a cadet  
named Lucy from Canada asked. "Axlerod is planning on taking his entire army to  
Los Angeles, California," Finn stated. "Cool, will we have time to see the  
Hollywood sign before he attacks?" asked a cadet from China named Chu. "Cadet Chu!"  
his commander, Gabe snapped. "I was kidding…mostly," Chu defended. "Please tell  
me you vehicles have come up with a plan," a Creed kid named Lorenzo pleaded.  
"We were just about to go over them, but first, we need to get some more cars  
to help, and we know just the ones," Lightning said.


	22. Chapter 21

In L.A, the Lemons had arrived on their boats to the coasts, and they brought the portal with them in case of a quick getaway. "Ah, what the perfect day to take over the world," Axlerod stated. "With those agents and imports driving for their lives, what could possibly stop us now?" Zundapp said. "Nobody, that's who," the Black Lord said. Just then, the sound of approaching engines came into earshot and before anyone knew, Lightning McQueen and Boost came to screeching halts no more than 20 yards away from the villains. "Ah, Lightning McQueen, Boost, I thought I'd see you here, and your friends have made a drive for it, I trust?" Axlerod sneered. "No, actually," Lightning said. "We've come to take you down once and for all," Boost snarled. "Oh really, that's funny. There's thousands of us and two of you," Acer laughed. "Oh, is there?" Lightning asked. Then everyone heard the sound of tons of approaching vehicles either from cars, trucks or motorcycles. Then, the Lemon army saw a humongous group of vehicles and humans, all armed with weapons. "Me and my big fat bumper," Acer muttered. "ATTACK!" Lightning shouted. "ATTACK!" Juan jumped in. "COUNTER-ATTACK!" Zundapp commanded. "COUNTER-ATTACK!" Travis threw in. The two armies charged toward each other, some of the cars, mostly the military vehicles, opened fire on the Lemons. Lightning wove his way through the battle, to see how he could help. Out of the corner of his windshield, the race car could see Sara riding on top of Frank the Combine, chasing some Gremlins and Trunkovs that were dumb enough to get in his way. Out of the other corner, Lightning could see a shaking mailbox. He drove over to it and knocked it over and saw Gavin tumble out. "Gavin! What are you doing?" Lightning asked the teen. "Hiding!" Gavin stated. "Hiding, what? Why? We need you!" Lightning said. "Juan's right, hiding from a battle is what I do best, and it always will be," Gavin said. "No it isn't. You blew up the school once, remember?" Lightning stated. "On accident! And also, that was before I became a hippie," Gavin corrected the car. "So was your father, but he fought against the Black Lord's gang as a ghost, I'm pretty sure you can fight as well." Gavin looked at the battle ground to see his friends in the battle, fighting all the Lemons. He also noticed some of his other friends, Charlotte, Jack, James and Stephanie were fighting too. "Do you want to let your friends fight without you? They may not look it, but they could still need help," Lightning said. Gavin took another look at the fight and nodded. "What can I do?" Gavin asked. "You could be a medic, fight up close with a gun, or you could help some of the cadets with some explosives; Charlotte is there too," Lighting suggested. "I'll help Charlotte, mainly because I don't know how to help a car or use a gun!" Gavin ran to where Charlotte was. Lightning drove in another direction to find out if anyone needed help. At the safe buildings Finn mentioned earlier, tons of the residents of Los Angeles were being evacuated by the police. There were these wall-mounted monitors where any cars who wanted to could watch the battle commence. One of the cars was a familiar light green Shyster Kremlin covered bumper to bumper with stickers and a black mustache grill. "This is crazy," Chick Hicks muttered as he and his pit crew watched the fight. "Hey!" exclaimed Bruiser Bukowski, one of the forklifts, pointing at the screen as Guido came into view. "That's the forklift that did the world's fastest pit stop! What's he doing there?" "He's probably helping the good guys win the battle, he is Lightning McQueen's friend," said Junior, the #8 race car. Guido was making his way through the battlefield along with one of Dinoco's forklifts named Luke Pettlework and one of Francesco's forklifts named Fernando. "Where now, Signore Guido?" asked Fernando. "(Left,)" Guido replied, pointing his lifter to the left. He turned toward that direction with Luke and Fernando following close behind. They went around a corner to see a big lift loader parked in their way. "Where do you shrimps think you're going?" asked Muggsy Liftsome. "We're dead," Fernando said, trembling at the sight of how big Muggsy's lifters were. Guido didn't even flinch at the sight of the huge forklift and whipped out his electric wrench, and drove toward Muggsy. "What do you want, tiny?" Muggsy sneered. Guido didn't say anything, he just drove around Muggsy very fast that he was a blur, undoing the bolts on his tires, removing them, and then he tossed the wrench aside and used his lifters to tip over the lift loader. Chick Hick's pit crew once again lost their mustaches at the sight of what Guido had done. "How'd he do that?" Bruiser had to know. "How'd you do that?" Muggsy asked the blue forklift, just as shocked. Guido just drove off with Fernando and Luke. "Hey, don't leave me here!" Liftsome hollered. Chick wasn't that impressed by the small forklift's actions and just looked at the other monitors until he saw the King on one of them. "What the-What is the King doing there! He's old!" Chick exclaimed. "Nobody's too old to fight Chick, that's what one of my uncles told me," Misti Motorkrass, the #73 race car stated. Chick Hicks grumbled at her comment and went back to watching the action. Back on the battlefield, Harold was riding around on his motorcycle, trying not to get hurt or killed. He turned around a corner and crashed into Petrov Trunkov. "Stupid human!" he snarled, knocking Harold of his motorbike and started to crush it with his tires. "My bike!" Harold cried. "You're next!" Petrov snarled. Harold jumped to his feet and ran away from the Lemon car. Petrov gunned it and went after the teen. It went on like this to the point until Harold wanted to stop, but he knew if he did, the Trunkov would run him over. Then he heard an engine on approach and looked to his left to see Francesco driving alongside him. "Harold! Grab my spoiler!" the Formula FB1 race car shouted. Harold grabbed Francesco's spoiler and held on as the race car sped away from Petrov. Through the battle field, Harold noticed he wasn't the only Saturday racer to team up with a World Grand Prix race car; he was Samira working Carla Veloso, Jason Baraclaugh fighting alongside Shu Todoroki, Bryan Centavo partnered up with Miguel Camino, Greg Harland with Raoul ÇaRoule, Conner Anderson teaming up with Jeff Gorvette, Brad Landis working with Nigel Gearsly, Elijah Wilson with Lewis Hamilton, Derek Tobias partnered up with Max Schnell, and Ali Aare with Rip Clutchgoneski. He also noticed they lost their motorcycles as well, and as far as he could tell, Dylan Barnes, Leo, and Trenton were the only racers that hadn't lost their yet.


	23. Chapter 22

Back at the safe building, some more cars were driving inside when a female car screamed "MY DAUGHTER IS MISSING!" "What was her name mam?" Marco Axelbender asked. "Coriander Widetrack, she's a little pink car with a jet fighter antennae ball," Mrs. Widetrack described. "Don't worry, mam, she probably went in ahead of you and is already inside, we just got to find her," Marco told the car. Chick Hicks, who overheard, went back to watching the monitor when he noticed a little pink Capital Motors car driving around the battleground, looking a little lost. "There she is, why isn't anybody helping her?" he asked. "They're probably too occupied with the battle to notice," Junior suggested. "I'm not," Chick said before speeding out of the building. "Boss! What are you doing?" Bruiser asked. "Something I should have done hours ago," Chick stated. His pit crew looked at each other before saying heck with at going after him. The other Piston Cup race cars and pit crews glanced at each other before doing the same thing. Chick sped into the battle and looked around to see if he could find Coriander, when he got shoved into a wall by a Pacer. He was trapped between the wall and old car until Todd "the Shockster" Marcus pushed the Lemon away. Chick went back to searching for Coriander until he finally found her hiding in an alley. He drove in and asked "Are you Coriander Widetrack?" The little car nodded fearfully. "Come with me, your mother's worried about you," Chick stated. He led Coriander out of the alley and out of the battle to the safe building. They were almost there when Grem and Acer blocked their path. "Where do you think you're going race car?" Grem sneered. "Your mother's house, no wait it's your sister's. I can never tell them apart these days," Chick said sarcastically. Grem charged at the Shyster Kremlin, in an attempt to ram him into a wall, but Chick countered by doing a donut and hitting Grem right on the fender, sending him tumbling into a wall dented all over and twisted tires. Acer was stunned by the sudden attack, allowing Chick the chance to ram the Pacer into another wall, causing a few dents in the process. "Come on, Coriander," Chick said to the kid car. He led her back to the safe building where Marco spotted him. "I don't believe it! It's Chick Hicks, and he has Coriander with him!" he gasped. The other cars looked to see the light green race drive into the building with Coriander where Mrs. Widetrack sped over to her. "Coriander! I'm so happy you're okay! Never do that again!" she sobbed. "I'm okay, mommy. This race car helped me," Coriander piped up. Mrs. Widetrack looked at Chick, surprised, but she managed to say "Thank you, Mr. Hicks." "You're welcome," Chick said, before speeding back to the battle. Meanwhile, Sheriff was going through the heat of the battle, trying to find any civilians that needed help. Then, he glanced into his mirror to see J. Curby Gremlin and some of his Gremlins going after him. Sheriff drove away from them as fast as he could, trying not to get caught and bust a gasket at the same time. Then, he ran over a glass bottle, which caused his tire to pop. Now was the end of him. Yasin ran over to him with Stacy, the Leakless forklift with her wrench and a new tire. The Lemons were about 20 yards away from collision and finishing off the Mercury Police Cruiser, human, and Nemomatic forklift for good when, suddenly, the Tuner Gang blocked their path. "Get out of our way you import punks!" J. Curby snapped. Boost glanced back at his friends and Sheriff before glaring at the purple Gremlin, saying "I don't think so." The tricked out cars charged at the Gremlins, ramming them and denting each of them badly to the point when one of them decided to shout "Retreat!" and drive away from the battle. Stacy had just finished replacing Sheriff's tire and the cop car drove up to Boost. "Thanks son, I owe you one," he said. "Don't make us heroes, dude. Anyone could have done it and we just wanted to tell those damn Gremlins to step off," Boost said. He and the rest of the Tuner Gang drove off to see if anyone else needed their assistance.


	24. Chapter 23

Lightning was still trying to find Sir Axlerod when he met up with Leo, Mater, Trenton, and Travis, who was standing on Mater's hood. "Any idea where Axlerod is?" Lightning asked his friends. "Nope, we've looked everywhere, except the building where the C.H.R.O.M.E portal is in front of," Travis stated. "Then I think that building is our best bet," Lighting concluded. The group of 5 drove to a big warehouse where the portal was sitting in front of and entered. Juan and Dylan Barnes saw them drive inside and went after them. The Condrey saw them as well and rode their motorbikes into the building. Francesco and Harold entered the warehouse through another entrance. Chick Hicks, seeing the first few enter the building, sped after them. The cars and humans went up the many ramps to the top floor where they burst in through different doors into a room where Axlerod was fiddling with a white box-like object. "Don't move Axlerod!" They all shouted at the same time. Then they realized who else was in the room. "Harold?" Leo said. "Leo?" Harold replied. "Milly?" Juan said. "Juan?" Milly replied. "Travis?" Kassie said. "Kassie?" Travis replied. "McQueen?" Chick said. "Chick?" Lightning said. "I don't-a know what's going on here," Francesco said. Nobody expected to see anyone else in the warehouse. "While you're all busy being confused, I'm just going to leave," Axlerod said, driving out of the room through another door. "He's getting away!" Darren shouted. "After him!" Trenton commanded. The cars and teens went after the villain as fast as their tire or feet could carry them. They chased the old Bradford Axlerod car throughout the building until at one point, Chick got a closer at the white blocks that he noticed were spread-out the place. He saw a very conspicuous C-4 symbol. "Bombs! Axlerod rigged the house with bombs!" Chick hollered. Everyone heard him shout the word bomb and Juan noticed another explosive nearby. "We got to get out of here before the building blows!" he warned everyone. The group continued to speed through the warehouse, trying to find the quickest way out. Little did they know Axlerod had found his way out and had the controls for the bombs with him. "Farewell, Lightning McQueen and friends," he laughed, before pressing one of the buttons with his tire. The explosive on the top floor blew up, shaking the premises. "What was that?" Harold asked, jumped by the small quake. Then there was another explosion and part of the ceiling collapsed just down the hallway. "The bombs, they're going off!" Juan shouted. "Let's get out of here!" The cars and teens sped down hallway after hallway, trying to find a way out until they saw the front entrance wide open. "There's our exit!" Dylan shouted. But just when they were only 12 yards away from getting out, Axlerod pressed another button and a bomb above the door went off, causing the ceiling near it to cave in and block the entrance. "The exit!" Milly shrieked. "We're dead now!" Harold cried. Then, a few more explosives went off, causing the building to fall down around their ears or mirrors. Everyone scattered to different rooms, except Trenton, who just stood there as the warehouse came crashing down around him. He thought Harold was right; they were all indeed dead. Back outside, the armies of cars and humans started to notice the building starting to fall down. They all gathered around to watch in horror as it collapsed to nothing but a pile of rubble. "I just got word from Marco, he said there were some cars in there," Yasin said. "Who?" Finn asked the boy. "Lightning, Mater, Travis, Leo, Trenton, the Condrey Gang, Francesco, Harold, Juan, Dylan, and Chick Hicks," Yasin stated. "MATER!" Holley shouted. "LIGHTNING!" Sally screamed. "LEO! TRAVIS! TRENTON!" Kendra cried. "JUAN!" Darrian shouted, attempting to run into the building and rescue her brother, but Riri and Commander Gabe held her back. "Are you crazy? We don't know what else is in there!" Riri snapped. "PLEASE COME OUT AND TELL US YOU'RE ALL OKAY!" Gavin pleaded. "They're dead you twits," Axlerod sneered. "You did this?" Boost questioned. "Yes, I planted C-4 all over the premises and set them to blow with this controller. Your friends are all gone," Axlerod sneered, pushing the remote near Boost, revealing the all the buttons had been pressed. "Those stupid cars and ridiculous human teenagers you care about are gone forever, including that idiotic Condrey girl." "That girl has a name and it's Jasmine, and she's not as idiotic as you think. She was the one who talked me into changing sides," Boost told the villain. "And what? You're friends now? All because she made you change sides for she lost her father like you lost your sister, Speedy," Axlerod said. "How do you know about my sister?" Boost questioned. "I read about her in the newspaper. Coincidently, I met a little car like her the night before that looked like her, she seemed upset about not having headlights, so I thought it'd be hilarious if I told her that a major accomplish of a headlight-less car is to navigate through some dense and dark woods without lights, and she fell for it and went and did it. What a pathetic and stupid little car she was!" Axlerod laughed. "Don't insult my sister!" Boost snarled, revving his engine and charging toward Sir Axlerod, but Lemon Leader stopped the import by slamming his tire on his hood. "If you try to attack me, I'll see to it that you suffer the same way your sister: all dented and oil-less," Axlerod threatened. Boost struggled to break free from the evil car's grip, but he knew it'd be useless. But he also knew that his friends had to be alive.


	25. Chapter 24

Inside the ruins of the building, Trenton was lying under a ledge of rubble and he opened his eyes to check out his surroundings. "Wow, heaven looks a lot like the ruins of a building," he thought. Then he realized that he was in the ruins of the warehouse. He remembered what happened a few moments earlier and crawled out of the pieces of concrete. He looked around, trying to find his friends, but only found his motorcycle in a mangled mess. He continued to walk around the rubble, trying to find an exit, until he noticed part of a hole that lead outside. He pulled some pieces away to make the hole bigger, but instead cause the wall of crumbled building to collapse, taking everyone by surprise, including Axlerod, who released Boost. Trenton slowly emerged from the ruins in one piece, and immediately, he was swarmed by his friends from Sun Springs. "Trenton! You're alright! Where are the others?" Kendra asked. "I don't know, before the building fell, they all scattered in different directions," Trenton explained. "Okay, so maybe one of them survived, but that doesn't mean the others did!" Axlerod snapped. "It wouldn't hurt to check," Snot Rod said, speeding through the new doorway, into the ruins. "Hey! Don't go in there! Wait for me!" RJ shouted, chasing the Bragatron car. The duo searched tunnel after tunnel trying to find their lost friends, shouting "Milly! Jasmine! Lightning! Juan! You here!" After at least half an hour, they were about to give up, but Snot Rod shouted one more time. "YO! ISN'T ANYONE HER!" Then, he and RJ heard a groan that was nearby. They turned around to see none other than Chick Hicks trapped under a support beam. "Chick Hicks! We'll get you out of there as fast as we can," RJ said as he and Snot Rod were about to assist the race car. "Don't bother, if I die, nobody will miss me, and if I live nobody will care, I've done too many bad things in my past to be missed," Chick said. "Yeah, I saw that in the Cars movie, but you could change," RJ said. "What makes you think that?" Chick asked the teen. "I know some kids who were nearly as bad as you, but they changed within one day, all because of something a red race car said to them," RJ explained. "I used to cause mayhem on the Interstate with my friends and caused more trouble when we started to work for Sir Axlerod, then, we locked up those same teens and they consoled Boost into being good," Snot Rod added. "Listen, it wasn't too late for them, or for you, because you're younger, but I know it's too late for me," Chick said negatively. "It's never too late," RJ stated. "Do you still want to die?" Chick was still silent for a few minutes before saying. "Fine, get me out of here." RJ used all his strength to lift the support beam, releasing the race car. "And besides, if you were bad, you wouldn't have come to help us and help Coriander Widetrack get to safety," RJ pointed out. "How do you know about that?" Chick had to know. "I saw you with her." Chick looked at the teen surprised before saying "Let's see if we can find any other survivors." The group of three continued on their way through the crumbled warehouse until they found Jasmine, Kassie, Darren, Milly and Dylan sitting around some mangled motorbikes. "Milly!" Snot Rod exclaimed. "Snot Rod!" Milly squealed, running over to the import. "You kids okay?" RJ asked. "We're fine, but we don't know where the others are," Jasmine said. "I know where Francesco and Harold are, but their trapped," Dylan admitted. "Show us where," Chick said. Dylan led everyone to a part of the ruins that had a doorway that was blocked by various support beams that were stacked horizontally. "Harold, you still in there?" Dylan asked. "Yeah, can't exactly go anywhere," Harold sneered. "How will we get them out?" Darren asked. "I know, tie some rope to the beams and get me and Chick to pull it out of place," Snot Rod suggested. "Sounds good, but there is a risk that the entire area could collapse, crushing us all," Dylan warned. "I have an idea; RJ, Jasmine, lift up one of the lower beams so Harold can slip out," Milly said. RJ and Jasmine gripped the bottom beam and lifted it up. "Okay Harold, crawl through," Milly said. Within moments, the teen crawled out through the hole. He stood up and asked "How do we get Francesco our?" "Kassie, Darren and Dylan, lift the second beam. You and me can lift up the top one," Milly said. The teens got to work and managed to lift the beams up high enough for Francesco to drive through, or it seemed. The Formula car slowly rode through the doorway when he spoiler got stuck on the top beam. "Help! I'm-a stuck!" he shrieked. "Relax, your spoiler just got caught on the beam," Chick said, using his hood to push the beam up a few inches higher, allowing Francesco to drive out completely. Francesco was free! "You two get out of here and get the others in here to help us find the others; I'm pretty sure they're all alive," Chick ordered. "No way! We want to help!" Harold protested. "And why would we listen to you? You're known for cheating!" "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if a cheater in my dimension looked to you for reference to cheat in the motorcycle races we had on Saturdays," Dylan added. "Sí! Lightning McQueen-a told me about you…not exactly told me, more like warned me," Francesco snarled. "Yeah, we also know about your 'students', Switcher, Candice, Stinger and El Machismo," Harold added. "Didn't anyone tell you to not hold grudges? Listen, hear me out!" Chick pleaded. "I used to be a good car when I was young, but my dad said my family was a family of winners. That we don't have time to help cars of lower levels, saying they would drag me down and said to me to win at all costs. He taught me to race and to cheat, and I got so used to following in his footsteps that it had become part of me, but I can change!" "Where's your dad now Chick?" Jasmine asked. "He died a few years back," Chick stated. "Then you don't have to listen to him anymore! You don't have to use your bad attitude to get ahead in life. Only kindness and care will! Not violence or hate! There's a place in hell for cars that are like him, and I know you don't want to end up there. Nobody does and I think you still have a chance to do some good things again," Jasmine consoled the race car. "Did Lightning tell you that?" Chick grumbled. "Some of it, but the rest I heard my dad tell some boys who were picking on me and my sisters and brother. One of those guys was this guy," Jasmine said, pointing at RJ. "And I regret that, but I'm telling you, that was mostly my brother and his friends, I just got dragged along," RJ admitted. Francesco and Harold still didn't trust Chick Hicks, and they didn't even try to hide it. They gang continued on their way to find the rest of the missing cars and teens. Chick noticed that Francesco and Harold kept giving him looks that clearly said "I don't trust you at all." He just ignored them as RJ started to call out the teens' names. "Travis! Leo! Juan!" "Lightning! Mater!" Jasmine hollered. "McQueen! Tow truck!" Francesco and Chick called out at the same time. The Italian race car did a 180° and glared at the Shyster Kremlin. "I'll call to Lightning McQueen-a and his friend!" he snarled. "Oh come on, I'm pretty sure McQueen would reply to me as much as he would you," Chick argued. "No, he'll reply to me because I don't-a flip over legendary cars," Francesco bit back. He sped ahead of everyone and away from Chick. Chick was shocked; it seemed like every race car was giving him the cold fender, and Francesco didn't even have any! Chick caught up to him. "I'll have you know, pal, I saved a kid from trouble by getting her to safety, and she was right in the battlefield! I also dealt with these two old cars you called Lemons and I used my flipping techniques to take them out," the car told the other car. Francesco turned around to face the Kremlin again. "I have one word for you, Signore Hicks. I'm pretty sure you know it," Francesco said. "Really, what?" Chick asked, not really interested. "SILENCE!" Francesco shouted loud enough for his voice to echo throughout the ruins and for the cars and humans outside to hear, and also Lightning, Mater, Leo, Travis, and Juan. "That sounded like Francesco," Leo said. "And he doesn't sound happy," Lightning added. "Francesco! Are you around here?" Lightning hollered. "Aha! McQueen is behind the wall!" Francesco exclaimed. "Guys, you out there?" Travis asked. "Yeah, and we'll get you out of there as soon as we can," Harold said. "Are the others with you?" Mater asked. "Everyone except you 5," Chick said. "Chick?" Lightning said. "Oh great! They brought the cheater with them! Why didn't you leave him where you found him?" Juan sneered. Chick's mouth dropped open in shock. The teen judged him so quickly. "Oh, burn," Harold laughed. "Relax, Juan, he's on our side. He's a good car, but he's just misunderstood," Milly stated. "That is such a load of sh-!" Juan started to shout when Kassie cut him off saying "Don't you dare say that, Juan Joseph Joenns!" Chick, having enough of all the hatred, finally snapped. "Listen, I had to get out here to help some kid get to the safe building! I had to deal with an orange Gremlin and light green Pacer! I caused the other Piston Cup race cars and pit crews, including mine to join in the battle! And this is the thanks I get!" The room went silent as Chick's voice echoed throughout the ruins, and once again, the bystanders outside heard. "You helped a little girl?" Mater was surprised by that. "Yes, she got separated from her mother and needed help to get to safety before a Lemon car killed her," Chick explained furiously. "But none of you even give a damn about that!" "Well, I give a damn about it, and I think that was brave and selfless of you to do that," Jasmine said. "I'd have to agree," Leo said. "It's good to hear that bad cars are becoming good." "Wow! Jasmine is converting cars wherever she goes!" Mater exclaimed. "Yep, but me and Snot Rod told him it's not too late to change his ways. Believe this or not, he wanted us to leave him to die under a pile of rubble," RJ added. "And he helped get Francesco out when his spoiler got caught on a support beam me and Harold were struggling with," Milly added. "So if he's so 'helpful', how will he get us out?" Juan asked. "Where are you?" RJ asked. "Behind this wall where my voice is louder," Juan stated. "Juan, we can't tell, we can hear your voice very clearly no matter where we are," Milly joked. "We're going to need a lot of hammers or a small explosive to take out this wall," Harold sighed sadly. "No we don't," Chick said, backing up toward a wall and revved his engine loudly before speeding toward the opposing wall, crashing through it in one go, denting his bumper and hood a little in the process. "Nice trick," Travis commented, a little jumped by the surprise move. "Let's get out here before this building comes crashing down around out mirrors or ears," Lightning said. The group raced out of the area as fast as they could.


	26. Chapter 25

The cars and teens went through the ruins the way they came before the warehouse came all the way down. When the group finally got out, they were greeted by thousands of cheers. "JUAN!" Darrian, Anna, Sela, and Cydney squealed happily when they saw their brother in one piece and ran over to hug him. "Stickers!" Sally exclaimed, driving over to her boyfriend. "Mater!" Holley added going over to the tow truck. The other cars and teens close who knew them very well went over to greet them. "Jasmine! Kassie! Darren! Milly! Snot Rod!" Boost exclaimed as he, Wingo and DJ sped over to their gangsta friends. "Is that-?" Riri was about to ask when she saw Chick Hicks. "Yep," Juan said, breaking free from his sisters. "Don't worry, commander, he's alright." He muttered to her quickly before she jumped to assumptions. "I don't understand! How can you be alive?" Axlerod questioned. "Because we're brave, unlike you," Chick snarled at the British car. All the cars were surprised by Chick's sudden comeback at Axlerod, except for RJ and the Condrey Gang who snickered at all the shocked faces. "Give up, Axlerod, you're outnumbered," Lightning said. Sir Axlerod did a 360° and saw that the race car was right; he and his army were surrounded by race cars, imports, military vehicles, forklifts and teenagers. Before he could surrender, the ground began to shake violently. Everyone stiffened with fear and some of the humans stumbled to the ground. "Are earthquakes in L.A normally this violent?" Juan asked. Holley turned on her holographic pop-up display and checked. "According to my calculations…no, it shouldn't have been. It was a nearly a magnitude of 12!" she stated. "That's worse than the earthquake in San Francisco in 1906!" Aneil exclaimed. Everyone gasped. "And to make it worse, Los Angeles wasn't the only place to feel it; countries all over the world felt it: Japan, Italy, Brazil, Spain, France, Germany, you name it," Holley added. "You mean Atlantis felt that!" Travis exclaimed. "I'm not sure if that place exists, but if it does, then yes!" Holley said. "Four of those countries have never gotten an earthquake, this is starting to get weird," Aneil stated. "How about scary, Aneil, can this be scary while we're at it," Iralanda said. Then there was another quake shook the city again, but it seemed worse and lasted longer. "It hit the 14 mark now!" Holley stated. "They're getting worse!" Harold shouted. "But what's causing them?" Finn asked. Then, everyone heard fiendish laugh from somewhere. The Black Lord made his way through the front. "Did you have something to do with this?" Lightning questioned. "Not exactly just me, more like all the humans in this dimension at the moment," the Black Lord snarled. Everyone gasped. "How did we have something to do with this?" Leo asked. "It's simple, really; the cars have been coming to our world for years, no problem with that, but if it's vice versa and too many humans at once, then there's trouble. The portals have caused an imbalance between the two worlds, which could end up destroying both," the Black Lord explained. "If the humans go home to their dimension, then the human world is okay, but the Cars world will eventually fall apart." "What will we do?" Kendra asked. "Don't worry, I saw this coming, you kids go home and we'll do the rest!" Finn ordered. "But that will take forever! There are so many of us from so many different places," Adam complained. "Just take everyone to Sun Springs, it will be easier," Finn suggested. The spy car activated the C.H.R.O.M.E portal and picked the dirt track just outside Sun Springs where the Saturday races were. "Okay, everybody through the portal as fast as you can," Finn ordered. The teens jumped into the portal, getting transported back to the human world. The second to last person was none other than the Black Lord, who jumped in before the last person could kick him through. Leo was the last teen, but before he left, he took one last look at the Cars world and at his friends and gave a small wave, before leaving. After he jumped through, Finn shut down the machine and commanded "Everyone! To the safe buildings!" The army of car sped over to the safe buildings. On their way, Lightning began to notice that the sky was starting to turn into a deep crimson red. He knew that was a bad thing and gunned it. When they arrived, Finn asked Marco "Are all the civilians inside?" "Yes, Mr. McMissile. They're all checked and accounted, they wouldn't be if Mr. Hicks hadn't found Coriander Widetrack," Marco stated. Francesco did yet another 180° to face Chick. "Well, it-a seems like you were telling the truth," the Formula car said. "When have I ever lied about something like that?" Chick said, but he reflected on his past and realized that he had lied in the past. "One second thought, don't answer that," he added quickly added. "Places in the building everyone!" Finn shouted. "Holley set the destination for the human world." "The human world? Why there, Finn?" Lightning asked. "It's the only place that we'll adapt quickly, but we'll set you and your friends' special destinations," Finn explained. "Special destinations?" Lightning said confused until he remembered Sun Springs. "I hope that's what he means," he thought. "Everyone hang on!" Finn shouted. Holley pressed a button and the building began to shake. Lightning took one final look at his home world, just when it started to flame up and approach the safe buildings.


	27. Chapter 26

Back in the Human world, the teens had just gotten home and were all pacing around the dirt track, well some of them were; the military kids were running laps around it for they missed a whole day of training and needed the exercise. Leo, Kendra, and Travis went back to Juan's basement to retrieve Lightning's jacket, Sally's blazer, and Mater's jacket. The three teens looked at them sadly, thinking that their friends were gone forever. A few moments later, Juan, Gavin, Amy, Christopher, Yasin, Jasmine, Kassie, Darren, Milly, Trenton, Iralanda, Aneil Adam, Harold, Quinton, Kelly, Darrian, RJ, Riri, and Sara went down, with the same sad expressions on their faces. The kids walked up to the café and got something to eat and drink, they were about to eat when they noticed something glowing in the streets. "Dad!" Kelly shouted. All the parents raced out of their shops to see what was going on and were shocked to see so many lights in the street. "What's going on?" Mr. Mohamet asked Yasin. "I don't know, dad, but it's cool!" Yasin exclaimed. Then, a bunch of people started to appear right before their eyes. "Is that-?" Leo asked when he saw a person with red hair. When they were all done teleporting into the human world, the teens discovered that the people were Lightning, Sally, Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Guido, Luigi, Lizzie, Red, Sheriff, Holley, Finn, Boost, Wingo, DJ, Snot Rod, Chick Hicks, Francesco Bernouli, the WGP racers, the King, Lynda Weathers, Mia, Tia, Mack and the pit crews, who all fell to the ground. "Oh no, not this again," Juan groaned. "We'll need three hospitals to hold this many people," Gavin complained. "Not necessarily," Adam said. He walked up to Mr. and Mrs. Watson. "I need as many buckets of ice cold water as you can give me," he ordered. At the sound of that, Guido jumped to his feet, shouting "(I'M AWAKE! DON'T SPLASH ME!)" "What's splashing?" Francesco asked the once-forklift. Adam then splashed a full bucket of ice-cold water all over Francesco, making the once-formula car jump to his feet. "That's-a too cold!" he shrieked. "Well it has to be cold if you can stay cool out in this entire heat," Adam said. Slowly, Lightning, Mater, Sally, Sarge, Fillmore, Red, Lizzie, Sheriff, Luigi, Holley, and Finn got to their feet. "McQueen, how did you that?" Chick Hicks asked, still lying on the ground. Lightning and Leo walked over to the once-race car and helped him stand up. "It looks hard," Leo started. "But it's actually pretty easy," Lightning finished. The other teens showed up into the town and helped everyone else stand up and taught them to walk. "Wow, we're all…human," Chick said, looking at his reflection in the aluminum cover of a car with all the paint stripped of. He had short black hair and mustache, brown eyes, fair skin, a light green jacket covered in advertisements for different products he had when he was a car, along with his racing number, 86, and his sponsor, htB, green pants, black sneakers and a white tee. "Never thought I'd look this weird as a human," Chick said. "According to my files, you're based off the leader of a biker gang from the 60s named Spike Carper," Holley stated. "Oh I knew him! He used to stop by Sun Springs every time he and his gang came to Star City," Lydia said. "He isn't one of your exes, is he?" Amy asked. "Well…" Lydia said. "RUN! She's going to tell a story about her love life!" Amy warned, hobbling away from her grandmother. Lydia shook her head, but she was laughing. "Is that the Black Lord?" Mrs. Camilo asked. "Yessiree! In the flesh!" Mater exclaimed. "Well, now since you brought him back, I guess I can arrest him," Mr. Mohamet said. "No, give me and my siblings a few moments," Jasmine said as she, Kassie, Darren and Milly swaggered over to the gangster. "What? You here to forgive me for what I did to your father?" the Black Lord sneered. "HELL NO!" the Condrey exclaimed. Jasmine pulled back her hand and slapped the mobster hard on the cheek. Kassie went next before he had a chance to fight back and hit him harder than her sister did. Then Darren went up and slapped him harder than Kassie did. Finally, Milly went up. "Ha! You can't do anything, you're a shrimp," the Black Lord mocked. "Oh really," Milly said, doing a neck-roll like Tyra Banks. Then she pulled back her right hand toward her left and slapped the Black Lord so hard with the back of her hand, she knocked him to the ground. "You little-!" the gangster snarled, trying to get back on his feet to beat the girl, but Mr. Mohamet and Sheriff held him back. "Where did you learn to pimp slap?" Darren asked his younger sister. "Gangsta video games," Milly stated. Meanwhile, Mr. Jago had found Aneil among the crowd and found him in the middle of it all. "I don't understand how a stupid, ignorant, and un-clever boy like you survive a battle like that!" He snapped. "How did you live?" Aneil thought about an answer until he remembered what Chick Hicks said to Axlerod earlier. "Because I'm brave, father, unlike you," he said. Mr. Jago's eyes widened in fury and he raised his hand, ready to inflict harm on the boy. Aneil's eyes widened in fear knowing all too well that this would hurt more than his normal beatings. Guido, seeing the boy in distress, went into action and did something he had been wanting to do ever since he learned about what Mr. Jago did; he ran over and grabbed Mr. Jago's raised arm, holding him back from hitting Aneil. The man turned around and socked Guido right on the nose, knocking him to the ground and making his nose bleed. Seeing the entire, Mr. Joenns, Sarge, Sheriff, and Luigi started to run over. Mr. Jago ran away from them, trying to get away with his crime, but he glanced back once to see how far he went and looked forward to run into Snot Rod; he had short black hair, green eyes, brown skin, and was wearing an orange hoodie, blue jeans, orange sneakers and had a gold chain necklace. Mr. Jago fell back to the ground and looked at Snot Rod full of fear as Snot Rod looked down at him threateningly. Mr. Jago had been afraid of T.J Condrey and Snot Rod was no different from him as far as he could tell. That gave Sheriff the chance to handcuff him without getting hit. "Good job, Snot Rod," Sheriff said. "What'd I do, all I did was just glare at Mr. Jago for bumping into me," Snot Rod admitted. "Do you need a tissue?" Aneil asked. "No, I think Jago broke his nose," Dr. Garwood said, walking up to the duo. "Come into my office and I'll get a look at it." Guido nodded and followed the good doctor to the building. Just then a guy who looked like he was in his teens, but about Darrian's age, drove up into the town on a blue motorized scooter, and watched as Mr. Jago got put into a police cruiser. He walked up to Aneil, still wearing his helmet and said "Wow, I see the cops are already taking him away." "Yep, and the Black Lord as well," Aneil added. "They finally got him! Far out!" the guy exclaimed. "Excuse me, but, who are-a you?" Luigi asked. The guy took off his helmet, revealing that he had black, spikey hair with dark blue streaks in it, and resembled Aneil a little. "Gan!" Aneil exclaimed. "You're back!" "Yeah, I didn't like Detroit as much as I thought I would," Gan said. "Detroit! Did you get me a souvenir?" Aneil asked. "If I tell you no, will you hit me?" Gan asked first. "Iralanda, make sure Gan stays where he is while I get a broom to beat him with," Aneil told the Italian girl. "Yes sir, Signore Jago," she replied. "I cannot-a believe I am no longer a car," Francesco said. He had slicked back black hair, fair skin, red eyes, a sleeveless and open jacket colored like the Italian flag, and had green shorts and red sneakers. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it within a week," Lightning said. "Just don't pump gas into your pockets," Leo said. "Why not?" Chick asked. Adam walked up the man and showed him the screen of the camera phone and showed him the video of Mater with his pants on fire. "Got 1,000,000 hits within a week, I called it 'Jackass who lied too much'," Adam said. "Juan has pictures on his Facebook and Twitter." "That looks painful," Chick said, grimacing. "It was painful, but the ratings were great!" Adam exclaimed before walking off. Then, the parents pulled the main heroes aside, saying "You guys agreed to watch our kids for one week, then you put them in grave danger and get them and their friends to fight an army of bad guys within that week," Dr. Garwood said. "Dr. Garwood, we didn't mean to-," Lightning tried to explain. "But you brought them all back in one piece, thank you," Dr. Garwood added quickly. "If there's anything we can do for you, just let us know." "I sure appreciate that, thank you," Lightning said. Then he noticed the teens all moping by the café, most likely about their lost motorcycles. "Actually, there is one thing…" Lightning said.


	28. Chapter 27

The next morning, Lightning and his friends rounded up all the teens that lost their motorbikes the night before and brought them over to an old garage. Leo, Travis, Kendra, Trenton, Gavin, Juan, Iralanda, Aneil, Kelly, Quinton, the Condrey Gang, Adam, Yasin, Christopher, Amy, Sara, Harold and the other Saturday racers were all standing outside, wondering what the deal was. "This had better be good, you interrupted my sleep," Adam snarled. "Don't worry, it will be good," Lightning said. He pressed a button, allowing the garage door to open, revealing a line of motorcycles and motorized scooters. "Oh. My. Goodness!" Kendra squealed. "We all chipped in to buy you all motorcycles to replace the ones you lost yesterday," Lightning said. "You even got some for those of us who didn't even race!" Gavin exclaimed, admiring his tie-dye motorcycle. "Thank you!" Milly screamed, checking out her motorcycle with a shiny new supercharger. "You even removed the fenders on mine," Harold said. "Yes, I noticed that on-a your bike and thought I'd do the same for your new one," Francesco said. "So, is the Saturday race back on?" Lightning asked. "Definitely," Leo said, revving the engine on his new motorcycle. "To celebrate the win of the good guys against the bad, my mom is going to set up a karaoke system the Edmunds had and we're all going to sing tonight," Kelly told everyone. "My parents had a karaoke machine?" Adam asked, clearly surprised. "You mean you didn't know?" Kelly asked the short boy. Adam shook his head no. "Aiy," Kelly muttered hitting her forehead on the handle bars of her motorbike. At the café that night, Adam was looking through the CDs, trying to find a CD to sing to in the karaoke contest. "There's a new one in that stack," Mrs. Edmund stated. She lifted up a case for Adam to see. He gasped and grabbed it out of her hand. Then he hugged her. "Did I ever tell you you're the best mom ever?" Adam asked. "Yes, dozens of times, Adam," Mrs. Edmund stated. "What is it?" Gavin asked. "The Train album with 'Drive By' on it!" Adam exclaimed. "Train?" Holley asked. "It's a band," Kendra explained. "I got my song," Adam said. "No, I got my song," Gavin said, snatching the case from him. "No, I want to sing 'Drive By'!" Aneil said. It didn't take too long for all the teens in Sun Springs and the Saturday racers to start arguing about the song. Finally, Sally decided to put an end to it. "Why don't you all sing it?" she asked. "I like that idea!" Travis agreed. All the teens got on stage and inserted the CD into the machine, and they all took their places. "On the other side of a street I knew, stood a girl that looked like you," Gavin sang. "I guess that's de ja vu," Iralanda added. "But I thought this can't be true," Leo crooned. "Cause you moved to West L.A., or New York, or Santa Fe," Sela sang. "Or wherever to get away from me," Darren sang. "Oh, but that one night, was more than just right," Milly crooned. "I didn't leave you," Adam added. "Cause I was all through," Travis finished. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Kendra sang. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Amy added. "Because I really fell for you," Quinton sang out loud. "Oh, I swear to ya," Kelly belted out. "I'll be there for you," Yasin added. "This is not a drive by!" Adam shouted. "Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight," Aneil sang like Sinatra. "After I take her home, I-I-I-I-I-I know," Travis jumped back in. "When you're moving," Iralanda sang. "Everything is grooving," Gavin added. "They don't I can sue me," Kassie sang. "Only way that you'd be," Jasmine crooned. "Oh, I swear to ya," Amy sang. "I'll be there for ya," Kendra added. "This is not a drive by!" Sela finished. "On the other side in a downward spiral," Leo sang. "My love for you went viral," Gavin added. "And I loved you for every mile you drove away," Aneil crooned. "Now here you are again," Adam sang. "Let's skip to how you've been," Travis added. "And get down to more than friends at last," Iralanda sang. "Oh but that one night, was still a highlight," Juan sang. "I didn't leave you," Cydney jumped. "Until I came to," Kelly sang. "Oh I was overwhelmed," Dylan sang, finally joining in. "In fact I'm scared to tell," Trenton added. "Because I really fell for you." "Oh I swear to you," Aneil crooned, "I'll be there for you." "This is not a drive by," everyone that had been singing sang. "Just a shy guy," Harold added. "Looking for it tonight," RJ sang. "After I take her home," Trenton sang. "I-I-I-I-I-I know!" Amy, Kendra, and Gavin sang. "When you're moving," Yasin, Travis, and Adam sang. "Everything is grooving," Quinton, Milly, Aneil, Leo and Darren chorused. "They don't, I can sue me," Cydney, Harold, and Jasmine sang in unison. "Only way that you'd be," Juan sang "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by," everyone sang in unison. "Please believe, that when I leave," Trenton crooned. "There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you," Aneil added. "And a little time to get my head together too," Travis and Darren added. "On the other side of a street I knew," Leo sang. "Stood a girl that looked like you," Travis added. "I guess that's de ja vu," Gavin sang. "But I thought this can't be true," Iralanda jumped in. "Oh I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya, this is not a drive by! Just a shy guy, looking for it tonight. After I take her home, baby, I-I-I-I-I-I know! When we're moving, everything is grooving, they don't, I can sue me. Only way that you'd be. Oh, I swear to ya, I'll be there for ya! This is not a drive by!" everyone finished. The audience applauded so loud, Lightning swore he felt the building shake. "Well, looks there will be a new era, just not the Chick Era," Chick Hicks said. "Yep, a whole new experience for everybody, I just hope everyone will adapt," Lightning said. "Everyone seems to be getting on well," Sally said pointing at the other once-cars. Some of them were in line for karaoke, some were chatting up other people, and some were just relaxing. "Looks like everything worked out for the best!" Mater cheered. "Lightning, the next race is within a few days and I missed a whole day of no practice!" Leo said, running up to his mentor along with Adam. "We need help!" Adam added frantically. "No problem, I'll help you guys," Lightning said. For the rest of the night, Lightning helped Leo and Adam with their racing questions while the others had help from the WGP racers and the King, which meant one interesting race. What started out as a crazy mission of saving the world and trying to find one villain ended in a remarkable adventure of making new friends and conquering anything no matter what.

_The End_


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